Gutierrez plays catch and the M’s win a game

A busy day as we all but got the final roster when Jack Zduriencik announced this morning that Cesar Jimenez had been outrighted to Tacoma and that Tom Wilhelmsen, Aaron Laffey and Josh Lueke had been told that they made the team. Wilhelmsen was a long shot coming in having never pitched above the A ball level but a solid fall ball experience seemed to set him up for a good spring.

“He has been very consistent,” Eric Wedge said of his newest addition to the bullpen. “He has handled it all very well. Good arm, big guy, secondary stuff is good, he has some poise out there on the mound. He pitched his way on this ballclub. It probably was a long shot early on but I think that it is something everyone needs to recognize, that anything is possible when you come in here and he earned a spot on this club.”

The other news of the day also came from Zduriencik, who confirmed that Franklin Gutierrez would start the season on the DL. Gutierrez was able to get out onto the field this morning where he played catch for a short time with a trainer. While he has not talked about what he is dealing with, both Zduriencik and Wedge said that he has had a good last few days.

“He has been able to do a little bit of baseball activity,” Wedge said. “We are going to baby step him into it but the most important part of that is that he feels good. As long as he comes in and keeps feeling better then we can build up some strength physically and we can build up the baseball side.”

On the field today the Mariners beat the Rockies 7-2. Doug Fister threw 77 pitches in four innings and despite being off with his location – walking three, hitting one and throwing two wild pitches – he did not allow a run. The Mariners’ seven runs came from the middle of the order with Ryan Langerhans driving in three, Jack Cust two, and Miguel Olivo and Rich Poythress each with one RBI.

Also of note, Olivo caught all nine innings.

Tomorrow most of the team will travel to Los Angeles for the 7 p.m. game with the Dodgers. Some will be left behind to rehab or rest but Wedge was not ready to give the list as not all players have been notified as of yet. They also will take about a dozen minor leaguers with them just for the day. After the game the final 25 will board the plane for the flight up the coast to San Francisco. The team will work out on Thursday then open the season Friday against Oakland.