A difficult week for right-hander Brandon Morrow got a little worse today.

Already slowed with tightness in his right forearm, Morrow had flu-like symptoms this morning and was invited to vacate the premises until he feels better. The flu bug has infiltrated camp, starting with Mike Morse a couple of weeks ago.

Heck, even KIRO-radio reporter Shannon Drayer has been under the weather. She hasn’t exactly lost her voice — never a good thing for a radio personality — but when she doesn’t whisper, she sounds a little like a diminutive chain-smoking truck driver.

Bench coach Ty Van Burkleo was a little ill today, but he’s the camp coordinator and the show must go on.

During his morning media session, manager Don Wakamatsu said the Dodgers have agreed to use the designated hitter rule during Saturday’s game at Camelback Ranch, which means Mike Sweeney will make his Mariners debut in the DH role. He tuned up for the debut with another simulated game this morning on Field 6 at the Peoria Sports Complex.

The DH rule is not used at National League ballparks during the regular and postseason, but most NL teams allow it to be used in Cactus/Grapefruit League games. 

— Jim Street

Is Mike Sweeney a great teammate, or what?

He walked into the clubhouse this morning carrying two large brown bags stuffed with breakfast croissants. He handed them out to the players sitting around a table and others sitting in front of their lockers.

Third baseman Matt Tuisasosopo, who religiously sticks to a specific breakfast every day, made an exception on this day.

“I have a Cinnamon-raisin bagel, put some peanut butter and honey on it, have a strawberry yogurt and either a orange or apple juice. That’s what I have every day. I used to have waffles every morning here, but I have to stay away from them now. They aren’t good for you. I’m at 225-226 pounds and want to stay there.”

— Jim Street

Another season, another birthday, same foe for Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard.

Consider, if you will, that the vociferous lefty celebrated his 30th birthday today and, just as he did last year when he turned 29, part of his afternoon was spent pitching against the Angels.

In 2008, his first season with Seattle, vociferous Erik held the Angels to two hits and one run over three innings.

Birthday boy was at it again in ’09, working his way out of a two-on, one-out pickle in a scoreless first inning, and retiring the AL West rivals in one-two-three fashion in the second and retired the first two batters in the third before manager Don Wakamatsu went to the mound, maybe said “Happy Birthday”, and made a pitching change.

While all this was going on, sitting in the front row next to team president Chuck Armstrong was former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren and his wife, Kathy.

— Jim Street

Move over Jenny Craig, the Mike Morse Diet also works wonders.

All you have to do is get sick for three days and watch the pounds disappear.

That’s what the Mariners outfielder/infielder did last week, shedding nine pounds from his 6-foot-5 frame.

“I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. . .It was awful,” he said this morning. “I couldn’t leave the house. All I could do was lay down. My body was drained. I still haven’t gained all the weight I lost, but I’m feeling a lot better.”

Morse said he isn’t worried about regaining all the weight he lost, but the three days he lost to illness also kept him out of the Mariners lineup. And that is not a good thing.

He is battling for an Opening Day roster spot and missed time is missed opportunity.

Morse returned to action on Monday against the White Sox and went 0-for-3, dropping his Cactus League average to .200. But he went 2-for-2 and scored three runs against Australia on Wednesday night.

Besides taking batting practice, fielding practice all over the field and playing in games, Morse spends some of his time picking Ken Griffey Jr.’s brain.

“He’s a good guy, a real good guy.”

So, what can kind of advice can he get from him?

“What kind of advice can’t he give you?” Morse said. “He can give you financial advice, he can give you advice on cars, he can give you baseball advice. Baseball is one of the things he can help you with. He has had such an amazing career, that he’s been through it all. He has been at the top, is still at the top, and he can tell you how to get there and how to stay there.”

Morse just hopes that the advice he gets from Griffey will continue into the regular season — as teammates.

— Jim Street

 

For the two of you not watching the Mariners on MLB Network, Ken Griffey Jr., walked towards the batter’s box at Peoria Stadium at 7:18 p.m. MT and received a warm — and partial standing — ovation.

He dug a little hole near the back of the box for his left foot, stepped away from the plate for a few seconds, and stepped back in, waving his bat back and forth after tapping it against the plate.

Former Mariners lefty Travis Blackley threw to first base, trying to pick off Yuniesky Betancourt, and then threw a first-pitch strike. Blackley missed the strike zone with three straight pitches, attempted another pickoff, and threw another pitch over the plate.

Griffey swung hard and fouled the ball straight back — into the press box, where it clanked off the iron hands of assistant public relations director Jeff Evans who, nonetheless, showed great courage by not trying to get as far away from the speeding ball as he could. It almost knocked him into the second row, but now is not a good time to get into that.

Some of us would have been under the table, ducking for cover. 

Meanwhile, back at thye plate, the eighth pitch of Griffey’s first at-bat as a Mariner since Oct. 3, 1999, was inside for ball four. He walked to first, advanced to second on a passed ball and went to third on Adrian Beltre’s RBI single to center. The inning ended with Griffey on third.

Junior excited the crowd in the second inning when he hammered Blackley’s first pitch, driving it to the warning track in center field. It was the final out of the inning and Junior left the building.

— Jim Street

Batting third for the Mariners in tonight’s game against Australia….No. 24, Ken Griffey Jr.

It is the first time since Oct. 3, 1999 that Griffey’s name appeared on a Mariners lineup card, and that was the night in Oakland, the season finale, that the first 11 years of Junior’s Major League career ended.

He batted second that afternoon at then-called Network Associates Coliseum, right behind shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Griffey went 1-for-2 and took the rest of the night off.

Almost three months later, he was traded to the Reds.

Full circle returns tonight at Peoria Stadium,this time with Griffey performing as the designated hitter, a position he figures to play a lot this season.

He has been fine-tuning his swing the past 10 days, ever since he thrilled Mariner Nation by “officially” announcing that he had chosen the Mariners over the Braves.

Here is tonight’s lineup for the 6:05 p.m. PT game and televised on FSN.

1. Ronny Cedeno, 2B
2. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
3. KEN-N-N-N Grif-f-f-f-f-ey Jun-n-n-nior, DH
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Russell Branyan, 1B
6. Wladimir Balentien, LF
7. Jeff Clement, C
8. Mike Morse, RF
9. Franklin Gutierrez, CF
P. Garrett Olson.

The starting pitcher for the Aussies is left-hander, and former Mariner, Travis Blackley.

— Jim Street

Wandering minds come up with the strangest ideas sometimes.

Take Mariners left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith for example. He was lying in bed the other night and his mind was going a mile a minute when he suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

“I thought it would be pretty cool to rip off my Mariners jersey during the Australian National Anthem before Wednesday night’s game and show off a green and gold T-shirt,” he said this morning. “But I still don’t have the T-shirt they (Aussie officials) promised, so I guess I’ll just have to sing along.”

Rowland-Smith said it was a tough to pass up an opportunity to play for Team Australia in the World Baseball Classic. He has no regrets about the decision he made, but he figured the Superman-like gesture would enable him to show his true colors prior to the game between the Mariners And Aussies at Peoria Stadium.

And who will he be rooting for?

“That’s a tough one,” he said.

Former Mariners outfielder Chris Snelling, who will play for Team Australia, has been a Rowland-Smith house guest the past few days.

The Aussie team leaves for Mexico City later this week to prepare for its Classic opener against Mexico on Sunday.

“If they can beat Mexico, I think they will make it to the second round,” Rowland-Smith said. “That’s the big game for them. If they beat Mexico and take care of South Africa, I think they will advance.”

Cuba is the fourth team in the Pool B field.

— Jim Street

 

This just in from Tokyo: Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-5 for Team Japan on Sunday during its 2-1 loss to the Yomiuri Giants in a World Baseball Classic tuneup game.

Ichiro was moved back into the leadoff spot after batting third during Team Japan’s other Clasic warmup games.

He also went hitless in Saturday’s 7-2 loss to Seibu.

Team Japan begins defense of its Classic championship on Thursday at Tokyo Dome against China.

— Jim Street

In the “just-getting-his-work-in” department, right-hander Brandon Morrow got his work in on Sunday, and it wasn’t a particularly pretty sight.

He was supposed to pitch two innings in his first Cactus League outing, but six of the nine batters he faced in the first one-plus innings reached base, ran his pitch count into the mid-30 range and he was outta there before anyone was out in the second inning.

Manager Don Wakamatsu walked from his chair near the third-base dugout at Surprise Stadium and made a pitching change, yanking Morrow and bringing in left-hander Justin Thomas.

Morrow is determined to start the regular season in the rotation. One rocky start in the spring won’t change that, but the three walks he issued is not what he had in mind.

“I may have tried to throw too easy,” he said. “My arm wasn’t catching up a lot of the time. I might have been too relaxed out there. I have to learn to lower my effort level so I can go seven or eight innings.”

Lefty reliever Justin Thomas,perhaps best known for his Venezuelan Diary which he penned for Mariners.com during his month in the Carribean, inherited a bases-loaded none-out jam and escaped with just one run being scored.

— Jim Street

It’s time to flip the calendar page to March (my favorite month of the year, by the way) and take a look at how the Mariners 25-man Opening Day roster shapes up from these old set of eyes.

Manager Don Wakamatsu hasn’t exactly asked for my advice on this subject, but the roster doctor is in the house and the MRI (My Roster Intuition) reads like this:

Pitchers (12)
1. Felix Hernandez
2. Erik Bedard
3. Brandon Morrow
4. Carlos Silva
5. Ryan Rowland-Smith
6. Jarrod Washburn
7. Miguel Batista
8. Mark Lowe
9. Roy Corcoran
10. David Aardsma
11. Garrett Olson
12. Randy Messenger

Catchers (2)
1. Kenji Johjima
2. Jeff Clement

Infielders (5)
1. Russell Branyan
2. Jose Lopez
3. Yuniesky Betancourt
4. Adrian Beltre
5. Ronny Cedeno

Outfielders (6)
1. Ichiro Suzuki
2. Franklin Gutierrez
3. Ken Griffey Jr.
4. Endy Chavez
5. Mike Morse
6. Mike Sweeney

You will notice (or maybe you won’t) that there are two non-roster invitees — Mike Sweeney and Randy Messenger — on my 25-man roster, which means two players would have to be removed from the 40-man to make room for them.

If the Mariners decide to carry 11 pitchers instead of 12, my guess is that a third catcher would make the team, probably Jamie Burke, although he also is a non-roster invitee.

Assuming that I am 100 percent correct on the MRI (insert laugh here) it means neither of the Rule 5 Draft choices — infielder Reegie Corona, known as Mr. Excitement at this camp, or pitcher Jose Lugo — are on the team and must be offered back to the organizations that lost them, the Yankees and Twins, respectively.

There you have it and you can take it to the bank — preferably one that has gone belly-up.

— Jim Street