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Mariners notebook: Bullpen shuffled with Dominic Leone demoted

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By Shannon Drayer, 710 ESPN Seattle   | April 3, 2015 @ 5:24 pm

Dominic Leone was sent down to Triple-A after he gave up 13 runs (10 earned) in seven innings this spring. (AP)

PEORIA, Ariz. – As a guest on 710 ESPN Seattle's "Brock and Salk" this morning I was asked who it was I thought we would first see from Tacoma this season. My answer was Carson Smith. I was surprised that it happened before we left Peoria, though, as Carson Smith is up and Dominic Leone has been optioned to Triple-A.
Leone had a very bumpy spring giving up 13 runs (10 earned) in seven innings. He was given every chance to show something close to form and it just didn't happen. The move was one that Lloyd McClendon wrestled with.
"As a manager you have a certain amount of loyalty to players, particularly when they pitched so well for you. It was just such a rough spring we had to make this move," he said. "I think the world of the young man, he just wasn't throwing very well. He's got to get some things straightened out. In good conscience I just couldn't take him north with me."
Leone didn't see the move coming. The team appeared to be set. The rest of the relievers were out of camp and roster rules apply. A player cannot be returned to the big league club unless there is an injury. With three players remaining in camp that would be eventually be sent to the disabled list, the move – Edgar Olmos to the 15-day DL with a shoulder impingement and Smith recalled – was easy to make.
"One of the toughest days I have had," said Leone, who was one of the last cuts last spring but returned before the 2014 home opener. "I understand I didn't have the greatest of springs. I always have things I need to work on. It's tough when it blindsides you like that."
After giving up three runs in 2/3 of an inning in his last start, Leone studied his mechanics on film when he returned home and said he saw what he needed to fix. That work will take place during what he hopes will be a short stay in Tacoma.
"That's just the decision they made. I will obviously respect it," he said. "I will go down. I am going to work my tail off even harder than I did last year and hopefully come back to a team that is kicking some butt and hopefully I can just jump back in that pen."
Lineup!
Jackson 8
Smith 9
Cano 4
Cruz DH
Seager 5
Morrison 3
Zunino 2
Ackley 7
Miller 6
Happ
Notes
• Hisashi Iwakuma pitched just two innings last night and threw no splitters. The idea was to rest the finger with the blister. There is little concern that it will be a problem. Kuma pitched (well in fact) with the blister at the start of the 2013 season. McClendon said he took a good look at the finger this morning and couldn't see the blister, which is a good sign. In 2013 that thing looked terrible.
• McClendon officially announced that the starters for the opening series against the Angels would be Felix Hernandez, James Paxton and Iwakuma, in that order. A decision has not been made on which order J.A. Happ and Taijuan Walker will pitch. With the way the early off days are scheduled the 4-5 order does not matter in regard to extra rest. McClendon said they are still determining whether they want to go RLRLR or RLRRL with the order.
• Walker is expected to pitch just 2 innings in his final spring outing.
• It was "camp day" today for the minor leaguers. High A played Low A and Double-A squared off against Triple-A on two of the back fields. Minor league rosters have yet to be set but I didn't see anything surprising in the teams, other than that D.J. Peterson and Patrick Kivlehan were not assigned to any from what I could tell. Danny Hultzen started for Double-A – McClendon has said that he would start in a warmer weather locale – and I saw him pitch three scoreless innings against a lineup that included Jesus Montero and Franklin Gutierrez.
What jumped out at me the most was one of the onlookers. Robinson Cano came down and watched for a few innings, yelling encouragement at some players and heckling others. It was a good example of how invested he is, taking time out of his day to come down and watch the minor leaguers. Pretty cool to see.