Emergency roles result in Hannahan, Garko working on their catching skills

PEORIA, Ariz. — A rainy morning didn't present the best conditions for Jack Hannahan to revive baseball skills not used since high school.

But a squatting Hannahan, squinting through the Saturday deluge in an unfamiliar catcher's mask, knows it was a rare opportunity to work on an emergency role the Mariners have planned for him.

Utility infielder Hannahan and first baseman Ryan Garko give Seattle the rare luxury of carrying a pair of emergency catchers this season, but the trick is to get them work without it interfering too much with their other responsibilities.

So with soft-tossing Doug Fister needing a catcher to throw his scheduled bullpen session and only a few days before position players begin full workouts, there wouldn't be more opportune moments than this for Hannahan to refamiliarize himself behind the plate.

"They're really taking me along real slow," said Hannahan, limited mostly to catcher meetings and select drills so far. "Because the chances of me getting back there (in a game) are pretty slim. So they're taking me along real slow and not blowing out my legs."

The Mariners have bigger plans for Hannahan when it comes to expanding his skills beyond that of regular backup duties at third and first base. They plan to use him at shortstop this spring, knowing he played there twice last season when Jack Wilson got hurt and don't want to impede that by bogging him down with catching or an injury.

"I lifted a lot with my legs (in the offseason)," Hannahan said. "But no matter what you do in the offseason, come in and catching a bullpen (session) and you're going to be sore. You're using completely different muscles, squatting all the time."

Garko is being eased in even more slowly for the same fear-of-injury reasons, though the fact he won the Johnny Bench Award as a collegiate catcher for Stanford in 2003 means the team knows he needs less work than Hannahan.

"I did it my whole life, so it's not something you usually forget," Garko said. "I like working with pitchers, and I like calling a game. But I don't miss the physical grind."

Garko's catching days came to an end when he was in Class AAA with the Indians. All-Star Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez had just signed a five-year contract extension and the Indians decided they wanted Garko's bat in the lineup more often than as a second-string guy.

While Garko appears to be the de facto emergency catcher behind whichever two of Rob Johnson, Adam Moore and Josh Bard is here on opening day, the fact he's also a designated hitter presents a challenge. Should the Mariners need an emergency catcher on a night Garko is the DH, they would lose the DH entitlement for that game by moving him behind the plate.

Hence, the need for Hannahan to catch as well.

"It all comes down to having flexibility," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Though Garko served as an emergency catcher with Cleveland, he never got into a game. Neither did Hannahan when he was the emergency catcher in Oakland, having been limited to a bullpen session last season.

And that's why the Mariners are loath to risk injury to either through too much catching practice.

"That's the hardest part," Garko said. "When you jump back and forth, it puts a strain on your body. You're using muscles that you just aren't used to using."

Mariners catching coordinator Roger Hansen said both players have caught balls off a pitching machine. Now that Hannahan has caught a bullpen session, Hansen will slowly ease him off the machine to more live pitching and also begin working on blocking balls in the dirt.

It remains to be seen whether Garko will see any real work increase, given his past experience and need to tend to his regular duties once position players begin full-squad workouts Tuesday.

"They're both good enough athletes that they can do this," Hansen said.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com