Mariners 2B Shed Long ‘loving every day’ in first Seattle spring training

Mariners prospect Shed Long already knew the question was coming when he sat down with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny O’Neil, Dave Wyman and Jim Moore Wednesday, but he took it in stride.

“You don’t like water. How it that possible?”

The question sprung from an interview Mariners manager Scott Servais gave with 710 ESPN Seattle in February. In it, the skipper offered an odd bit of trivia about Long: he doesn’t drink water because he doesn’t like the taste.

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“I said, ‘This could be a concern,'” Servais joked.

When asked about his manager’s comments a week later, Long doubled down.

“I hate water,” he said. “It doesn’t taste good.”

Don’t get him wrong – the second baseman has no problem with water in general. He likes going to the beach and jet skiing. But when it comes to his official stance on drinking it, he’s not a fan. Much more preferable is Gatorade, and a lot of Mountain Dew.

But with so many types of water – flavored, sparkling, or flat – is there any he will drink?

“Hose pipe water. I will drink hose pipe water every single day. It tastes amazing. I mean, that’s what I grew up drinking. You’re going to go outside and you’re going to play, you’re not gonna run back in the house and run back out. You’re going to to go over to the side of the house, get a little water and go on and play.”

Maybe the Mariners should put one next to the dugout.

“Oh for sure, I’ll drink it.”

Long ‘loving’ first spring training with the Mariners

The Mariners acquired the 23-year-old Long as part of a three-team trade with the Yankees in January (Seattle dealt New York 2018 second-round pick Josh Stowers to get Long, who came to the Yankees from Cincinnati for Sonny Gray).

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“It’s amazing,” Long said of his first spring training with his new team. “I’m loving it every day. I love coming to the field. They’re making everything easy for me, communicating good and everything. But I’m loving it, man.”

Shed is one of several new faces at Mariners camp, but he was one of the prospects highlighted by general manager Jerry Dipoto Friday – in part because Long has excelled this spring despite not yet reaching Triple-A.

“Growing up I played all sports,” Long said of his love for the game and his still ongoing journey to the pros. “My dad played football and baseball in college, so it was kind of a sports house. My brother and I, everything was a competition in the house. I mean, we played everything. But baseball really just came natural to me. It was things that I was doing younger… I was in T-ball trying to turn double plays. There were things that I would do, where I knew I was more advanced in baseball than anything (else). I knew, once I got to high school and I started maturing, I knew this was going to be my path.”

Listen to Shed Long’s entire interview with Danny, Dave and Moore here.

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