The First Day of Spring Training Mariners!

The Seattle Mariners first day of spring training starts today Feb. 19 with the pitchers and catchers. Actually physicals happen today and throwing starts tomorrow.

Like most spring trainings they have a group of guys throwing each day as far as the pitchers go. The bullpen pitchers will throw more often than the starting pitchers do. When the exhibition games start in a couple weeks the starters usually pitch an inning or two the first time out and then work their pitch count threw out spring training. The relief pitchers generally start out pitching one inning and go up to a couple inning  depending whether they are setup, closer who normally only pitch one inning and the rest go up to two innings. Usually the guy who is the long reliever right now is with the starting pitchers because he is competing for the fifth man in the rotation so this way he is able to pitch multiple innings when the season starts.

A lot of the pitchers have been in camp for several days already so they can go right off the bat. The starters will go through their regular rotation like in the regular season. Guys like Felix Hernandez and Iwakuma will pitch in some minor league games especially near the end of spring training. Felix has his own way of doing things during spring training. He most likely won’t play in the first couple rounds of spring training games. He will spend more time throwing in the bullpen. The pitchers do their throwing during the mornings and are out in the afternoon. Some will go out and play a round of golf in the afternoon.

The infielders and outfielders will be reporting next week. Many of them are already in camp as well and they work out on their own right now.

The minor league players won’t report for a few more weeks. Some of the guys who will play in triple A are in the major league camp. Usually a handful of them do not report to Triple A until the last week of spring training. This is especially true of the pitchers since they will be competing up until a few days before training ends. The last roster spot may not be determined until the last day of spring training.

This year spring training will be interesting with a new general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais along with all new coaches except Hitting Coach Edgar Martinez the only holder over from last season. There will be a lot of competing because the players can’t count on making the ball club except most starting lineup and a few pitchers.

It will be interesting to see if Dipoto will make some additional changes during or at the end of spring trainings. As far as the infielders and outfielders injuries could decide who makes the club or whether they have to go and get another player.  The catching position is pretty set right now unless an injury does happen during spring training. Last year’s starting catcher Mike Zunino likely will start in triple A unless Chris Iannetta or Steve Clevenger are hurt.

So anyway we will learn a lot as fans about the new Mariners during spring training and the new manager Scott Servais. So Let’s Go Mariners!