Bloomquist impresses

Despite his recent success, utilityman Willie Bloomquist hasn’t convinced Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove that he’s an everyday player.

But the Seattle-area product might be making progress.

“He has opened a lot of people’s eyes and he has impressed me,” Hargrove said. “Has he changed my mind about him being a utility player? Not necessarily, yet. But he’s gone down that road quite a ways.”

Bloomquist – who has started 29 of Seattle’s past 31 games – took a .272 average into Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

Not bad, considering Bloomquist was hitting .197 on July 2 – the day the Mariners designated second baseman Bret Boone for assignment.

Since then, Bloomquist has been in the lineup nearly every day, mostly at second base.

Bloomquist hit .319 in July and is hitting .345 with three multihit games in August.

He has played 15 games at second base, 24 at shortstop, 16 in the outfield and three at third base.

So what’s it going to take to change Hargrove’s mind?

“In baseball, it takes about two days to get a reputation and about eight years to break it,” Hargrove said. “It takes some time, and it takes a very unique individual to be able to be patient with that time.

“But if it’s going to get changed, Willie can do it.”

Hernandez impresses

Asked to reflect on 19-year-old Felix Hernandez’s performance Tuesday, Mike Hargrove’s first response didn’t come out the way he meant it.

“Nothing in particular stands out,” the Mariners’ manager said Wednesday.

Nothing? Hernandez stymied the Twins on five hits in eight shutout innings in one of the Mariners’ best pitching performances of the season.

“The whole thing was good,” Hargrove said. “He threw a lot of strikes, fielded his position well, kept his composure when the error was made to load the bases.

“He did things to keep the game in order. But not just one thing stands out.”

Notes

Hargrove said he has decided who will start Saturday’s game but wasn’t ready to announce it. Ryan Franklin will be eligible to come off his 10-game suspension for violating baseball’s steroid policy and he threw a simulated game Monday that would put him on scheduled to start Saturday. However, right-hander Jeff Harris, who started in Franklin’s place Sunday in a 3-1 loss at Chicago, also is a possibility. … Right-handed pitcher Jorge Campillo’s Tommy John elbow surgery has been scheduled for Aug. 23.