Mariners notebook: Lloyd McClendon taking his time giving closer role back to Fernando Rodney

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Lloyd McClendon is quick to point out that he never anointed Carson Smith the new Mariners closer, nor did he say Fernando Rodney is not the closer.

While Smith has picked up five of the last six Mariners saves, it was Rodney on the hill in the ninth on Friday night. Smith had pitched the eighth and McClendon’s logic for throwing him early was simple.

“I thought that was the biggest point of the game,” he said. “If you lose the lead in the eighth, then the ninth means nothing. I thought it was the best chance to preserve that lead at that particular time.”

Save stats don’t mean much to McClendon. Past success against Mike Trout and Albert Pujols does, so in McClendon’s mind it was better to have Smith face the two “monsters” of the Anaheim lineup, as he called them.

Will we see more of this going forward? I asked McClendon if he could envision using the back end of the pen in this fashion for the remainder of the year.

“My hope is that Rodney becomes the lock down ninth-inning guy again because we are a better club if he’s in the ninth, Carson’s in the eighth, Lowe and Furbush in the seventh – it closes the gap tremendously,” he answered. “That’s my hope. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or when it’s going to happen. For now we will keep doing what we are doing. We’ve got to win ballgames.”

Rodney has pitched six straight scoreless outings, yet McClendon is still not ready to install him back permanently in the closers role. Rodney himself was surprised that he was called upon in the ninth last night.

“When they said, ‘Smith get ready for Pujols and Trout,’ I had in my mind that he was going to throw five outs again like he did last week,” Rodney said. “I don’t have in my mind that they are going to call back in the ninth and they say, ‘Rodney, you are in the game,’ and I say, ‘Are you sure?’ But I prepare myself to be ready, I feel good to throw the ball good last night and keep working. Keep throwing the ball good.”

Rodney said that he believes that some of his struggles came from fastball location and not being able to get it down enough. He also noticed when he looked at his World Baseball Classic film from a couple of years ago that he seemed to be rushing. Last night he made a conscious effort to take a breath between pitches and slow things down pitch to pitch. Even a veteran with Rodney’s experience needs to slow the game down from time to time.

“Sometimes you have two outs and you lost the idea of what you are going to do with the hitter you are facing. This game gets bigger sometimes. When you don’t know sometimes what you are going to do, you put it bigger. Now I understand. When you lost your command, the game is going. And you are still there.”

Rodney has been working to get back to the closer he was a year ago. There has been no hanging of his head and no negative impact in the clubhouse from the disappointment of losing his spot. This is big and not something that should be taken for granted. McClendon is not surprised with what he has seen from Rodney.

“He’s been a pro,” McClendon said. “He’s been a great teammate, he’s been very supportive of Carson Smith. He understands the dynamics of a season and the ups and downs.”

“They need me, I need them,” said Rodney. “We help each other. We talk every time something happens. We all say we need to help. We talk together and we figure out what we need to help each other. We are a team. That’s what I like. That’s what’s most important to me. We are a team, we are teammates.”

My pregame interview with Rodney, which includes his thoughts on what we have seen from Carson Smith, can be found here.

Notes

• Here’s what McClendon had to say about playing Dustin Ackley in center field Saturday.

“Austin (Jackson) doesn’t hit this guy (Angels starter Garrett Richards); not a lot of people hit him. It’s a tough matchup. Chance to get Ackley right back out there. He’s swinging it good, it just makes sense.”

Jackson has been hitting well since returning from the DL in early May but had a particularly rough night at the plate Friday with a pretty ugly strikeout looking in the first inning. The ankle is still not 100 percent, either, so probably not a bad night to let him watch a ballgame.

• James Paxton played catch for five minutes yesterday from a very short distance. We should know more tomorrow if this is a step forward.

“He was just testing it out,” said McClendon. “Next thing is to make sure he has no pain the next day and go from there.”

• We could have a change in the rotation heading into San Diego. Taijuan Walker took batting practice Saturday, which is highly unusual. Mike Montgomery is scheduled to pitch Tuesday, and he took BP on Friday. Roenis Elias is scheduled to pitch Tuesday in San Diego but didn’t take BP today. I will try to find out more about this after Saturday’s game.

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