Putz's elbow won't finish closer's season

PEORIA, Ariz. — At least one of the two big questions surrounding closer J.J. Putz finally got answered.

Putz does not have a season-threatening injury, only a "mild strain" of the pronator muscle in his right elbow. The team plans to have Putz play catch by Tuesday. If all goes well, the Mariners will put him through a series of workouts designed to test the arm's ability to hold up on the mound.

But that still leaves unanswered the question about whether Putz will be Seattle's closer when the season opens.

"First of all, I'm not the pitching coach or the manager, so I'm not going to say that," Mariners trainer Rick Griffin said Saturday after a magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) scan of Putz's elbow had been reviewed by the team's medical director. "We're still optimistic. I know J.J.'s optimistic. As long as we progress without any setbacks, or any bumps in the road, there's always a chance."

Putz insists he was never overly worried about his arm and that the MRI was only precautionary. He adds that he won't need much time to get himself game ready.

"I probably just have to pitch against hitters, probably once would be fine," Putz said. "I felt good the two games that I did throw in. So, it's just a matter of building the arm strength back up, which shouldn't take too much time."

The Mariners open the season against the Oakland Athletics on April 2.

Teams often can overcome the loss of closers — even for several weeks at a time — when games play out in a way that closers aren't needed on a regular basis.

The Mariners won't rush Putz back to action simply for the sake of having him ready the first week, and they certainly won't ask him to throw through pain as he works his way back this week.

"We're not going to go out there and ask him to pitch through discomfort at the beginning of the season or the end of spring training when we have 162 games," Griffin said.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-2277 or gbaker@seattletimes.com