Piniella comfortable with Pineiro in pen

KIRBY ARNOLD, FOR THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Wednesday, April 3, 2002

SEATTLE -- One little word has opened a big can of possibilities again concerning the Mariners' fifth starting pitcher.

Manager Lou Piniella said "if" on Tuesday.

Used in a sentence, he said of right-hander Joel Pineiro, "If he starts on Tuesday, we can use him in the bullpen until Friday."

Piniella announced over the weekend that Pineiro would occupy the fifth spot in the starting rotation, but now his thoughts are headed in another direction.

Piniella says Pineiro would give the Mariners a power pitcher in the bullpen if used that way, and he saw it first-hand Monday when Pineiro pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts.

"I like the way he throws the ball out of the bullpen," Piniella said. "A big reason for our success last year is that we had power coming out of the bullpen."

That power last year came mostly from right-hander Jose Paniagua, who was traded to Colorado in December in the Jeff Cirillo deal. Pineiro pitched the last part of the season in the bullpen and impressed Piniella with his velocity and cool demeanor on the mound.

"He's valuable in both spots," Piniella said of Pineiro. "But one of our strengths is our bullpen here and we want to keep it strong. I felt once we traded Paniagua that Pineiro would be a perfect replacement."

Pineiro, right-hander Ryan Franklin and left-hander John Halama entered spring training in a three-way battle for the fifth starting job. Piniella said during most of the camp that it was Pineiro's job to lose and he did nothing to change the manager's mind. Over the weekend, Piniella said Pineiro would get the job.

"He's earned it, believe me," Piniella said. "But I said if, I didn't say when. I've thought about this about 10 days or so. But you've got to see how these things work themselves out. Early in the season you need your bullpen a lot."

Piniella said he'll decide by Friday.

If he chooses to keep Pineiro in the bullpen, Franklin is the likely choice to start on Tuesday at Anaheim, the first day the fifth starter will be used.

Halama, a left-hander, pitches with a style similar to soft-throwing lefty Jamie Moyer, and Piniella is likely to avoid such a duplication in the rotation.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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