Sunday morning notes: another setback for Guti
Aug 12, 2012, 12:37 PM | Updated: Aug 13, 2012, 12:02 am
By Shannon Drayer
We had a true Sunday morning clubhouse this morning. What do I mean by that? Sleepy in some corners, bouncy in others (Felix) and “Dumb and Dumber” was on the big screen. I’ve seen this all before.
Teams typically don’t take batting practice on Sundays so things are much more laid back. Guys get their work in in the the cages and weight rooms. Kevin Millwood worked out with a trainer on the field but beyond that guys mostly hung out in the clubhouse.
Tom Wilhelmsen looked much better rested after his 72-hour journey which included a trip to Seattle for the birth of his first child. Munenori Kawasaki was trying to do his regular stretching routine on the floor in front of his locker but was being tormented by Felix, who was up this morning watching Team USA beat Spain in the gold medal game of the Olympics. Felix, wearing his Dwyane Wade Miami Heat jersey, kept running out of the training room and lobbing a small rubber ball at Kawasaki on the floor. Then a hilarious dialogue between the two would break out, little of which could be understood by anyone.
“Munenori!” Felix exclaimed.
“Fifinori!” Kawasaki answered. “I am needing storage, understand?”
“Hai hai!” Felix answered. “I understand. Wait, no. I don’t understand!”
This went on for a good 10 minutes and everyone got a good laugh.
The news from Eric Wedge in his office minutes later was a little more somber. We learned that Franklin Gutierrez had been scheduled to begin his rehab assignment with Everett today but that plan was scratched as he came up with headaches after his last workout.
“We’ve got to put the brakes on again. It’s disappointing.” Wedge said.
The ordeal of Gutierrez has clearly been frustrating for all involved including Wedge, who considers him important to both the offense and defense.
“He just makes such an impact on our club,” Wedge said. “In the outfield we’ve had a couple of games on this road trip where if we had a different outfield we’d probably win.
“He just makes such an impact on our club with a right-handed bat with experience that you can really hit anywhere.”
Wedge is far from ruling out a return this year for Gutierrez; his goal is to get him on the field. I asked if he would need to play this winter and Wedge said that is something he would like to see.
Better news for Charlie Furbush, who pitched again last night for Tacoma. Wedge would like to see him stretch out to two or three innings but that shouldn’t take too long, so I imagine we will see him on the upcoming homestand.
