M’s bench coach Hassey searches skies for break in unusual weather
PEORIA, Ariz. – Take 61 baseball players, heavy overnight rain and a practice schedule to keep, and the result becomes …
A headache for Ron Hassey.
Hassey, the Seattle Mariners’ new bench coach, is responsible for setting the daily schedule at spring training, making sure players are occupied with drills and not with idle time.
A week of rainy weather has kept much of the Mariners’ work off their main practice fields and in their covered facilities, forcing Hassey to used Plan B more than Plan A.
“Every night, I keep going outside to look at the sky to see if I can see any stars,” Hassey said. “Every night when I go home, I work on the next day’s schedule. And when I get here in the morning, I re-do it.”
The Mariners had hoped to use the four-field cloverleaf at the west end of their complex, but they’ve used those fields twice in the first six days of camp.
“With the complex we have here, we would like to take advantage of the fields down below,” Hassey said. “When you’re using all four fields, you’re getting a lot of work in and nobody is standing around.”
The weather has forced the team into its covered batting cages and bullpen, plus the one full field that has a tarp. The forecast of rain the next two days has Hassey constantly looking at weather reports.
Hassey had a similar job in 1996 when he was the St. Louis Cardinals’ bench coach and ran their camp. The Cardinals train in Florida, which typically gets considerably more rain than Arizona.
“We ran into a little bit of rain when I was with the Cardinals, but we lost only two days,” he said. “Our concern now is making sure the pitchers are staying on schedule. That’s the biggest thing the first two weeks of spring training. We’ve wanted to use all four fields to get a lot more work in, and as soon as this weather does clear up, we’ll be able to get back on those fields.”
Only straight stuff
All of the Mariners’ pitchers are throwing all of their pitches except one. Closer Eddie Guardado, coming back from a rotator cuff injury, is throwing only fastballs, changeups and a few split-fingers, but isn’t yet throwing breaking pitches that would put a strain on the shoulder.
“We need to progress gradually,” pitching coach Bryan Price said.
Guardado missed the final three months of last season because of the shoulder injury. He spent the off-season rehabbing it and, so far at spring training, hasn’t experienced any problems.
“We’re going to be more cautious on the front half of camp so we can be sure we have him strong at the end,” Price said.
The other pitcher with arm issues, starter Joel Pineiro (strained elbow), has thrown well in camp and is using his full repertoire of pitches.
The simpler the better
New Seattle manager Mike Hargrove strives for efficient workouts with no wasted effort, which goes back to memories of his playing days.
“I can remember as a player running all these different pickoffs and bunt plays that we’d work on in spring training, then we’d get into the season and run one pickoff play out of the six,” he said. “I remember thinking I could have spent that time a lot better swinging the bat.
“I’ve tried real hard as a manager to remember that. The things we put in are the things we’ll utilize.”
They’re from everywhere
The Mariners are a team of international intrigue, with players in camp from eight countries and, for those who like to joke with pitcher Scott Atchison, Texas.
Players are from Japan, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Mexico, Curaco and the United States
It makes communication important.
Notes
Hargrove and Mariners executives met with the team for more than an hour before the first full-squad workout. … Mexican pitcher Jorge Campillo still doesn’t have his visa and, therefore, hasn’t signed a contract with the Mariners. He is working out with the team, but won’t be added to the roster until he signs. When that happens, injured pitcher Travis Blackley is expected to go on the 60-day disabled list.