Hargrove wants M’s to be more aggressive
To all those Seattle Mariners fans yearning for a return to crisp, flawless baseball, Mike Hargrove has a spring-training warning.
“This spring, we’re going to run into outs that will look real ugly,” the Mariners manager said Thursday from camp in Peoria, Ariz.
Hargrove hopes that what may look ugly during the exhibition season will turn into a thing of beauty when the regular season begins.
Hargrove is emphasizing aggression in every phase of the Mariners’ game this year, especially in their baserunning. He wants the M’s to take better leads off bases, steal more and risk taking the extra base.
When the exhibition season begins next week, Hargrove will insist that the Mariners run, even if they run into outs.
“You’ve got to find how far you can go before you can ever pull back from that and understand what’s worth the risk and what’s not worth the risk,” he said.
Hargrove particularly wants Ichiro Suzuki, Jeremy Reed, Willie Bloomquist and Yuniesky Betancourt to run, plus Raul Ibanez and Adrian Beltre “in the right spots.
“There’s room for improvement in all the guys as far as being more aggressive on the bases,” Hargrove said. “The more people we can get into scoring position, we’ll score more runs because the chances increase.”
Clearing the bases
Alfonso Soriano still isn’t ready to commit to playing outfield for the Washington Nationals, so a resolution will have to wait until after the World Baseball Classic. … New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez (toe injury) and Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez (a late arrival in camp) might drop off the Dominican Republic team for the World Baseball Classic. … Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne faced hitters for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery last June and was pleased with the results. … Detroit manager Jim Leyland announced veteran left-hander Kenny Rogers will start the Tigers’ season-opener April 3 at Kansas City. … Frank Thomas arrived at the Oakland Athletics’ camp but won’t be able to take part in workouts until the team’s doctors check out an MRI of his surgically repaired left ankle.