Ichiro has long way to go, still

Ichiro Suzuki played in his 300th consecutive game Wednesday, and there was no sign that he’ll take a day off soon, if at all the rest of the season.

“I can see him playing 162,” Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “We may DH him a few times, but he wants to play every day.

“It speaks to his mental toughness. Once you get beyond what Ichiro does physically, his mental ability and mental toughness are what make that happen.”

Suzuki hasn’t missed a game since July 10, 2004.

“In Japan, players are expected to play every day, even during spring training exhibition games because the fans come to watch them play,” Ichiro said. “That’s the Japanese style. The main thing for me is that if my team needs me to play, I want to play.”

The Mariners definitely need him, especially now that he has gone berserk with the bat.

Ichiro entered the day hitting .545 on the homestand and had lifted his season average to .350, third highest in the American League. He has 89 hits and seems on his way to a sixth straight 200-hit season.

He needed three hits to record 2,500 in his career, including 1,278 in nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave in Japan.

“We’ve all known for a long time that he’s amazing,” Hargrove said. “At some point you might stop being surprised at what he can do. But the measure of his talent is that we’re all still surprised. It’s so unusual for a guy to be able to do what he does on an every-year basis.”

Ichiro needs to play the next 2,332 games to match Cal Ripken Jr.’s record of 2,632.

“That’s like comparing somebody who has 3,000 hits to somebody who has 30 hits,” Ichiro said. “What he did was incredible, so incredible that I can’t think that another human being could do that.”

Feeling a draft

Seattle kept its word over the two-day major league draft.

They addressed their needs by drafting 34 pitchers in the 50 rounds that ended Wednesday.

Notable among the picks were Cam Nobles from Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Wash., and the University of Washington’s Kyle Parker. Both are right-handed pitchers.

Seattle also went for relative experience – 38 of the 50 draftees were collegians.

Notes

The Mariners expect to put together the roster for the short-season Class A Everett AquaSox late this week. Many of the players are at extended spring training in Peoria, Ariz., and will arrive in Everett on Monday. … Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson have played around with an aluminum bat during batting practice and Wednesday they hit some monstrous shots. Beltre hit one ball to left field that hit the concrete platform for the retractable roof and bounced out of the stadium. … Gonzaga University basketball coach Mark Few attended Wednesday’s game.