Mariners notebook: McClendon is looking for better from Paxton

It’s no secret that Lloyd McClendon is concerned about the Mariners’ starting pitching.

Short outings from the starters taxed the bullpen on the recent road trip, and even though J.A. Happ and Felix Hernandez broke the trend in the first two games against the Rangers, James Paxton was unable to get out of the third inning Sunday. It was his third straight shaky start, and McClendon wasn’t about to offer any explanations or excuses for his early-season performance.

“No, I don’t see that and I’m not going to talk about Paxton,” McClendon answered when asked about Paxton’s own thought that he was getting too rotational in his delivery. “I don’t want to hear anything about mechanics, that’s over with. He’s got to pitch. No more Paxton. Next question. I’m done with that.”

Alrighty then. The skipper is clearly not pleased with the performance of his No. 2 pitcher. His comments are interesting in that he very rarely says something like this without having intent behind it. Is this tough love like we saw with Taijuan Walker late last season? Possibly. Is it possible we just caught him in a bad moment and he really didn’t want to get into the mechanics? Sure.

McClendon saying “he’s got to pitch” is telling. He didn’t say that if he doesn’t think Paxton is capable of pitching, meaning he’s healthy and has had the appropriate support from the coaching staff. One thing is clear – McClendon expects to see better from Paxton his next time out.

Fortunately McClendon’s media session didn’t begin and end with the Paxton question. The next topic, Nelson Cruz winning American League Player of the Week honors, put him in a much better mood.

“Now we can talk about that,” McClendon said with a laugh. “He’s probably player of the month. I think it would be hard pressed to beat that. He’s been outstanding.”

No question about that. After going 1 for 15 to start the season, Cruz has hit .485 and put up a 1.753 OPS, slugging eight home runs and driving in 14. Safe to say he’s settled in.

“He has the ability to slow things down,” McClendon said. “Coming to a new club there’s always pressure to do good, get off to a good start, but that at-bat yesterday to win the ballgame, you saw a very calm guy at the plate. He really slowed things down and did quite a good job of winning that ballgame. That’s what veterans do.”

Cruz himself said he’s thrilled to win the award but even more thrilled to help his new team.

“It’s great. It’s special,” he said. “It’s always something you dream to do, especially when you come to a new team with new teammates, new city, you want to have a good impression. I thank God I have been able to. Well, most of the time.”

Hard to imagine that Cruz could have had a better week, but that’s exactly what he thinks.

“I think I should do better, but it is what it is. It’s baseball,” he said. “You want to go 5 for 5 every time, don’t leave any runners on base. That’s my mentality. I want to win every game.”

Note

• Click here for notes on Monday’s lineup vs. the Astros.