Mariners notebook: Taijuan Walker gaining confidence in his curveball

MINNEAPOLIS – With the trade deadline behind them, it was business as usual in the clubhouse for the Mariners on Saturday afternoon. There was no clock watching, no packing of lockers, no saying goodbye to now ex-teammates and hello to new ones. All of those things were seen Friday, though, which made for an unusual day for everyone.

The bullpen at the start of the game was at six as Jose Ramirez and Rob Rasmussen had yet to arrive. Rasmussen got to the park in the third inning, found his locker with his new Mariners uniform in it, put it on and trotted out to the dugout to meet his new manager. He then followed the service tunnel out to the bullpen and introduced himself to the relievers. Ramirez did not arrive until the eighth inning, which was fine as it turned out no relievers were needed with Taijuan Walker throwing a one-hit gem.

Walker had all four pitches working and as such was able to go to a very different mix than what he has showed in the past, which no doubt what was in the scouting report on him. While earlier in the season he showed he could dominate with a good fastball and changeup if he had his location, Friday was about mixing his pitches. The fastball was good from the start with great velocity, but the curveball made an appearance early as well.

“After the first inning I felt pretty locked in,” Walker said in the Mariners Clubhouse Insider report on Saturday’s pregame show. “Me and Z (Mike Zunino) were on the same page with everything we were throwing. We started mixing the curveball in early and I was throwing it for strikes early. That’s when I knew it could be a pretty good game.”

Walker and Zunino took advantage of a team that came out aggressive looking for fastballs.

“I could throw a curveball with the first pitch and they were not going to swing because they were not looking for it,” Walker said.

It has only been in the last two outings that Walker has become comfortable with his curveball, but it is a pitch he would like to throw more.

“My curveball was such a big pitch. I was watching video from 2013 and I didn’t realize how much I threw my curveball and I am trying to get back to it now,” he said.

For mixing pitches he received positive reinforcement in the form of a one-hitter, his first career complete game. It was a different look, different feel and an eye-opening experience for Walker.

“It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “A couple of hitters I felt we threw all off-speed to them, and just to have the confidence from Zunino to keep throwing off-speed, curveball, changeup, changeup, curveball, slider, just the confidence he has in me to throw my offspeed is huge.”

Lineup!

Ketel Marte, 2B
Kyle Seager, 3B
Nelson Cruz, RF
Robinson Cano, DH
Seth Smith, LF
Austin Jackson, CF
Jesus Montero, 1B
Brad Miller, SS
Mike Zunino, C

Mike Montgomery, LHP

Notes:

• Robinson Cano returns to the lineup after missing three games with a strained abdominal muscle. He is in at DH today and manager Lloyd McClendon said he probably could play the field if needed.

• Logan Morrison is still at least a few days from returning. The thumb bruise is most likely to stick with him for the rest of the season, but it quieted down enough for him to hit from a tee Saturday.

• Charlie Furbush, who is on the comeback path from biceps tendinitis, is scheduled to throw bullpens on Sunday and Tuesday. If all goes well he could make a rehab appearance with Tacoma on Thursday.

• Redmond native Adrian Sampson, who was acquired for J.A. Happ from the Pirates, will make his first start for the Rainiers on Sunday.

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