Concern grows as Davis fights injury

KIRBY ARNOLD, FOR THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Monday, March 25, 2002

PEORIA, Ariz. -- On Saturday, Lou Piniella said he was a little worried.

Now he's concerned. Genuinely.

Catcher Ben Davis, who has battled a strained oblique muscle the past two weeks, still isn't completely well and Piniella is concerned how healthy he'll be when the season starts in a week.

"It doesn't seem to be getting much better," Piniella said. "We're between a rock and a hard place. He needs to play, but at the same time we need him healthy. I don't know what to do."

If Davis can't play, the M's are in a tough spot because Davis and starter Dan Wilson are the only catchers in the Mariners' system with major league experience. Blake Barthol, who is trying to strengthen a sore shoulder and can't play, and James Horner both played at Triple-A Tacoma last year.

"Right now the only thing we have is Horner," Piniella said.

Davis, obtained from the San Diego Padres in December, is able to bat right-handed but feels too much strain in his side when swinging left-handed.

It's a troublesome issue because Davis, as a switch-hitter, allows Piniella to rest Wilson against tough right-handed pitching.

"He can bat from the right side but he doesn't seem to be able to do much from the left," Piniella said. "I thought he'd be able to play by now, and I'm concerned."

Davis started Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks, batting right-handed against lefty Randy Johnson, and hasn't played since. He pinch-hit the night before against the Athletics in his first action since March 13.

Wilson experienced a similar injury two years ago and needed a month to recuperate.

"It's really dicey," he said. "It's slow-healing thing and it's one of those things where you're trying to create tension in the middle section of your body, which you do a lot in baseball, and you can feel it pulling. It's so sports specific, so swing specific, throwing specific and it really grabs. You can do a lot of other things, but those are the things when you really feel it."

- BALDWIN SOLID AGAIN: James Baldwin, who will be the Mariners' No. 4 starting pitcher, threw impressively again on Sunday, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings of the Mariners' 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

He allowed a leadoff home run to Roosevelt Brown in the fourth inning, then sputtered in the sixth when the Cubs scored twice on three hits.

"I was hoping to keep the ball down today," said Baldwin, who did just that and got 10 ground-ball outs. "That plays into my game. If you keep it down, you keep hitters in the park. I did that except for one pitch."

- CLOUDE, KAYE CUT: The Mariners made two expected roster moves Sunday, re-assigning right-handed pitcher Ken Cloude to the minor league camp and optioning right-handed pitcher Justin Kaye to Triple-A Tacoma.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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