MLB: Mariners notebook

E-Mail

Text Size:

tool goes here

He had heard rumors from friends that he would be starting Friday, but he wasn�t sure when manager Jim Riggleman would post a starting lineup � so rookie Matt Tuiasosopo was in the clubhouse, in uniform, by 1 p.m.

�The lineup went up about 2, and I was in it,� the Seattle Mariners prospect said. �I started text-messaging my family. I left about 12 tickets to the game.�

Given his major league debut was scheduled for the same game in which pitcher Brandon Morrow made his first major league start, Tuiasosopo may have been something of a secondary highlight.

But not to him.

�I knew Andy Pettitte was starting for New York, and I�d never really seen him pitch,� Tuiasosopo said.

So what was an industrious 22-year-old to do?

�I looked up video of him pitching on YouTube on the internet,� Tuiasosopo said. �On the video I saw, he struck everyone out.�

Someone asked if Friday seemed as good as his dreams had been when he was growing up in the Northwest, and Tuiasosopo beamed.

�I remember being 9 years old and sitting in the Kingdome with my father and brother at the deciding playoff game with the Yankees in �95,� he said.

�I�ve put in four years of hard work to get here, and made the transition from shortstop to third base. The last few months in Tacoma, I started to feel like I was ready for this level. Before that, any time I�d thought about a timetable to get here, I�d struggle.�

Baby steps for Bedard

Erik Bedard�s rehabilitation from a tender shoulder took another small step Friday when, after playing catch on the field, he took the bullpen mound for a few moments.

�I wasn�t throwing, but just getting up and throwing downhill puts a different stress on it, and that�s what we�re trying to do,� Bedard said. �I felt fine. The question is if I can do it again, and again, and again. We�re making progress.�

The Mariners had hoped to get Bedard, who last pitched the first week of July, into a game this month but that�s not going to happen. Notes

Utility player Mike Morse, on the disabled list since early in the season with a separated shoulder, will report to the Mariners' Instructional League team on Sept. 15 in Peoria, Ariz. For the first week or so, he�ll be a designated hitter � the team doesn�t want him in the field just yet � and by mid-October he plans to be playing winter ball in Venezuela. ... Ichiro Suzuki leads the team with 40 stolen bases, but he has only six since the All-Star break. ... How much of a difference have batting coach Jose Castro and bench coach Lee Elia made with Seattle hitters? In April the team batted .259, in August .289. Raul Iba�ez is a fan. �Jose Castro is the best batting coach I�ve ever worked with,� he said.