All Righty, then....
Wetteland and Wak not too concerned regarding what appears to be, for now, an all-righty pen.
...Wetteland said. "It doesn't matter if you throw left-handed, or right-handed; if you can get lefties out, that's all that matters."
...said Wakamatsu "When the righties have the abilities to get lefties out, it's a moot point. Hopefully, we have that same problem."
But final slots still TBD....
Lots of "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross with this bunch. Between Brandon's early forearm stiffness (that put him way behind schedule) and Lowe's early struggles (though he ended ST on a high note) and others like Cordero and Johnson still on the shelf ~ it will come down to the wire.
The remaining question for Seattle is which three, out of Chris Jakubauskas, Shawn Kelley, Jesus Delgado and Roy Corcoran, will make the final roster. Jakubauskas and Kelley are non-roster invitees, who have posted some of the most impressive numbers in spring training. Jakubauskas could very well be the Mariners' long guy out of the bullpen after starting his final four appearances of spring training. Delgado could be kept because of his ability to get left-handers out.
The dark horse to start the season as closer might be Miguel Batista, who has no defined role, but saved 31 games in 2005 with Toronto.
"We are trying to stretch guys out to give us some versatility," Wakamatsu said.
Many of Seattle's questions might be answered by midseason. Tyler Johnson, still recovering from shoulder surgery, is likely to become Seattle's situational lefty out of the bullpen and the Mariners have hopes that Chad Cordero's recovery could return him to being the All-Star closer he once was with Washington.
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