Notebook | Jeff Clement to get bulk of time at catcher

A confident sounding Jeff Clement rejoined the Mariners on Tuesday vowing to stick to what works best for him.

And manager John McLaren said Clement will get the chance to do exactly that on a regular basis, adding that he'll handle the bulk of the team's catching assignments for the foreseeable future. McLaren was asked whether this meant catching three days out of every five — or each turn through the rotation.

"That, or more," McLaren said.

That will mean a serious reduction in playing time for Kenji Johjima, who has not been thrilled about attempts to work him out at first base in recent days. McLaren said the team has backed away from the idea of playing Johjima at first base for now.

But with the Mariners about to embark on a road trip to three National League cities, where the designated hitter will not be used, Johjima won't have an opportunity to get at-bats that way either.

The Mariners are reluctant to put more pressure on Clement by having him adapt to DH duties during this second go-round with the club this season. Clement struggled mightily in May during a 15-game stint with Seattle, hitting just .167 with a .536 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

But he hit .287 with nine home runs and 23 runs batted in over a 24-game stretch since being sent back down to the minors in mid-May.

"I know I'm capable of doing better than last time," Clement said. "It's just a matter of believing it and keeping the faith."

Clement said he may have tinkered too much with his hitting mechanics during his first call-up. He admitted to putting too much pressure on himself and "when I did get that pitch to hit, I wasn't hitting them."

As for catching or performing DH duties, the former No. 1 draft pick says it makes no real difference to him. He did both in Tacoma, splitting catching duties with Rob Johnson, and excelled at both.

Ichiro's move whose idea?

The team continues to dance around the subject of why Ichiro has been moved back to right field after spending much of the past 1-½ seasons in center. Manager John McLaren had said on Monday that the move was made to bring more "zest" to Ichiro's game and to "get him going" offensively.

But it can be easier for teams to find decent corner outfielders than center fielders, spurring speculation the Mariners have some pending deals on the horizon. Ichiro did little to quell that speculation by being somewhat cryptic in his answers when asked whose idea the move was.

"They approached me about it and they said 'Let's do this for the future,' " Ichiro said through an interpreter.

But when pressed on what that future entailed, he replied: "They didn't say any specific examples. Just kind of overall, looking into the future."

Ichiro was then asked whether the "future" he referred to was his own, or the team's.

"Probably both," he said.

Willie Bloomquist has started both games in center since the move, with opposing lefty starters on the mound each time. Jeremy Reed is expected to get the nod against right-handers.

The Mariners have explored the possibility of moving left fielder Raul Ibanez into a DH role. One way the Ichiro shift to right would allow that to happen is if the Mariners can find a full-time left fielder — like Ken Griffey Jr., to name one rumored trade target — to come in and play left.

Another possibility is taking a run at Boston Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp. If Crisp — rumored to be on the block in Boston — were to be acquired, he could play center and Reed and Bloomquist could move to left.

But for now, with the trade deadline more than a month away, the Mariners aren't tipping their hand.

Notes

• Kenji Johjima has caught all but one of Felix Hernandez's starts and says he's noticed a big change in the 22-year-old over last year. "He controls himself better emotionally on the mound," Johjima said before Tuesday night's game.

One way Hernandez has done this is by relying less often on strikeouts and doing a better job of pitching to contact. It's gotten him deeper into games, with Hernandez heading into Tuesday on pace to throw a career-high 230 innings this season.

• The much-discussed catching battery between pitcher Erik Bedard and catcher Jamie Burke appears to be over. Manager John McLaren was asked whether the arrival of catcher Jeff Clement from Class AAA would still enable him to keep the Bedard-Burke combination, and he replied: "We don't have any combinations any more, OK? Combinations are done."

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 15-23

Road: 10-23

vs. AL West: 10-14

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 8-17

vs. AL Cent.: 4-10

vs. NL: 3-5

vs. LHP: 5-13

vs. RHP: 20-33

Day: 8-15

Night: 17-31

One-run: 8-14

Extra innings: 3-2

Home attendance

Tuesday's crowd: 20,214

Season total: 1,080,528

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)

Average (38 dates): 28,435

2007 average (38 dates): 30,401