SHANNON DRAYER

Mariners notebook: Scott Servais hopes analytics help ‘tighten up’ base running

Feb 20, 2017, 9:07 AM | Updated: 10:57 am

PEORIA, Ariz. –A cloudless sky was a welcome sight Monday morning as the Mariners are just five days away from the start of games, and have already lost one day of drills. It also made for some nice pictures.

Yes, it was the annual photo day. The pictures you see on the big board at Safeco Field were shot Monday along with photos for Topps baseball cards. The business end of baseball is ongoing with shoe, athletic wear and equipment reps in and out of camp throughout the spring.

When the Mariners hit the field, there will be fundamental drills for each position group as well as bunt drills for the entire team. Manager Scott Servais has tweaked some of the drills, as we have already seen with the PFP (pitchers’ fielding practice). The pitchers now throw at a bullseye target on a net rather than to a coach. The new drill has brought out the competitive nature of some of the players and coaches. The result? A group of players will square off against the coaches and general manager Jerry Dipoto later in the week for a friendly competition. Dipoto is taking no chances, starting his preparation early.

We most likely won’t see a coaches vs. players base-running competition, but the basepaths will also be a huge focus for the team. It will be covered on and off the field with a classroom session using special reports based off Statcast from the Mariners analytics department.

“You will see us do some different drills starting tomorrow you haven’t seen before,” Servais said. “I know we are probably faster than we were last year but still, the middle of our lineup is the same guys it was last year and they are on base a lot. We want to tighten up the base running. We have got to get better there.”

One consistent theme in talking with players throughout the offseason is that little things throughout the year can make a big difference at the end. It all adds up. That’s easy to see when you come up just short at the end of the year – as the team did in 2016. The actual baseball practice that takes place during the spring focuses on what can be the difference makers.

“It’s not so much the games that you actually go out and win, it’s the games you don’t lose,” Servais pointed out. “Instead of giving it away, making a mistake, making an error.

“They understand what is going to be important for us to take the next step,” he continued. “It’s up to me to hold them accountable and make sure that happens.”

Notes:

• Servais said that outfielder Leonys Martin, whose absence is non-health related and excused, is expected back by the end of the week. He will be welcomed by a number of “missing” flyers hanging in the clubhouse and on the manager’s office door. The bottom of the flyer reads: “If found, please keep.” Just a little bit of good-natured clubhouse ribbing for Martin, who is very popular with teammates and coaches.

• The first Cactus League Report from the Salty Senorita in Peoria will be a week from Tuesday.

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