Mariners put faith in kid's stuff

Felix Hernandez, still six days shy of his 21st birthday, will stride to the mound at about 3:35 this afternoon to begin a season the Mariners hope will launch him to the baseball stratosphere.

No one has ever doubted the thunder that lies within his right arm. It is the maturity and focus Hernandez displayed in spring training that has the team quietly anticipating a breakout year.

If that happens, then the outlook for this most potentially volatile of Mariner seasons brightens considerably.

"If he can do what he's capable of, it's going to be huge for our team," said outfielder Raul Ibanez at Sunday's Safeco Field workout. "He can be one of those great pitchers where every time he takes the mound, he can stop the bleeding. He can be that guy. He can be a bona fide ace."

That Felix's 2007 star quest begins at Safeco Field against the Oakland A's, the team most responsible for Seattle's demise last season, is only fitting.

The Mariners, who wound up with their third straight last-place finish, don't need to be reminded about last year's Oakland domination. But they will be, repeatedly.

The M's had a 2-17 mark against the eventual American League West champions, including a mind-boggling 15 straight losses after Seattle misleadingly took the first game of the year.

"It got pathetic," admitted first baseman Richie Sexson. "It's going to be talked about until we beat them a few times, and deservedly so. It would be nice to come out and take two of three or sweep them. It might send a little message. As much as you'd like to think that's overrated, it's not."

As for Hernandez, he sent his own message when he showed up in Seattle in January in superb shape. It was a stark contrast to the previous spring, when by his own admission he arrived in camp overweight.

"That didn't happen because he was lazy," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said Sunday. "Felix had spent a lot of time kicking people's butts in that kind of shape. He needed that kind of wakeup call. He got it, and responded right."

It's not like Hernandez's first full season was a disaster. He went 12-14 with a 4.52 earned-run-average and more than a few flashes of brilliance.

What they've seen this spring leads the Mariners — and scouts — to think a breakthrough is at hand. Hernandez was 3-0 with a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings, but spring numbers are largely irrelevant. It was more the way Hernandez carried himself, and the advancement in his approach to hitters.

"His biggest asset is his mind, and his willingness to get better and learn," Sexson said. "He's always picking people's brains. He listens. In spring training, he didn't seem to make same mistakes twice. He was throwing off-speed stuff in hitters' counts. That's what really allows a pitcher to take the next step."

The Mariners will liberate Hernandez this year. After working assiduously to limit him to 200 innings last year, including spring (he actually wound up five over that mark), they will be far more willing to stretch him out in 2007, although they say they won't be reckless, either.

"The reins are off more than they were last year," manager Mike Hargrove said. "We'll probably look at his pitch count more than his innings this year. We're not going to run him out there and throw 140 pitches. He might throw 125-plus at times, but it depends on how those pitches come about."

Hernandez said happily on Sunday, "This year I have no limitations. I can go out and throw 115 pitches."

Evaluating his spring, Hernandez said, "Things went well, like I wanted them to. I feel I'm ready, but the important thing is, I have to stay healthy."

A healthy, productive Hernandez would greatly please the revamped Mariners, who begin the season with the requisite amount of optimism. Much is at stake, of course, including the job security of Bavasi and Hargrove.

"We got a lot of good things done in spring training," Hargrove said. "I think we're ready to play. I haven't seen anything that makes me feel any less adamant about the fact I think we can win this thing."

"Guys are looking around, guys are talking about it — this is a good team. It's a really good team," Ibanez said. "It's time for us to step it up."

Closer J.J. Putz believes the step will come.

"I have a great feeling, more so than any other team I've been on," he said. "I haven't been on that many, but the attitude coming out of spring, the attitude throughout spring, just the excitement level, the confidence guys were showing, it's great."

Today, against their arch-nemesis from Oakland, Felix Hernandez will try to create his own excitement.