[jaa36]

AG: Welcome back to The Wheelhouse. Here with me as usual is Jerry Dipoto. Jerry, thanks for being here.

JD: My pleasure, as always, Aaron.

AG: Another good week for the Mariners, though it started better than it ended, with the Mariners rounding out an eight-game winning streak before dropping three in a row to Cleveland. The Indians have now taken six of seven against the Mariners. But overall, the team's looked really good.

JD: You bet. Really an excellent all-around showing for our club in April, and we head into May with a good record, at 17-11.

AG: For the second week in a row, a Mariner is the AL Player of the Week. This week it's Mitch Haniger. 12 for 22, with two home runs and eight runs batted in. Both the home runs in one game, a 13-3 rout of the Indians. Tell us a little about what you're seeing from Mitch at the plate.

JD: Just consistent at-bats from Mitch, every time. When I talk about controlling the zone, he's taken that approach from day one. We knew what we were getting when we picked him up from Arizona a couple of years ago. Mitch's challenge has been staying on the field, and it's really been a lot of fluke injuries for him, but when he's out there, you know he's going to give you quality at bats, not swinging at bad pitches, and driving balls that the other guy leaves out over the plate.

AG: Haniger certainly not the only offensive star over the past few weeks. We now have Jean Segura with a 19-game hitting streak, the longest in the league this year, and Dee Gordon with a 12-game streak. Segura now hitting .373, second-best in baseball.

JD: Right. I feel like we talk about these guys every week- and we do! They're just that good and they are both tearing the cover off the ball. I've always been transparent about the plan for this team, and to be direct with you, this is the plan. Get guys on base at the top of the lineup for the big guns to drive in.

AG: Nelson Cruz also looks like he's starting to heat up, with three home runs in the past week, and an eight-game hitting streak himself.

JD: Yeah. You've seen what Nellie can do when he's hot. Around the league, he's a guy that people forget about, I think because he plays up here in Seattle, but since 2009, no one in baseball has more home runs than he does. And he can hit them in bunches.

AG: And how about utility infielder Andrew Romine, with a grand slam in the opening game against the White Sox?

JD: (laughs) Yeah, that was... unexpected. Andrew not a guy with a lot of power. We love his versatility, his ability to fill in where we need him to. You said utility infielder, but he's a true all-around utility man, can play anywhere on the diamond. From my playing days, he's a guy like Mark McLemore, who was sort of Ben Zobrist before there was Ben Zobrist. Just plug him in and watch him go.

AG: What can you say about the struggles again Cleveland?

JD: They're a tough match-up for us. Well, really for anyone in the league. You talk about them and Houston and Boston and New York and those are four loaded teams. They got us this time, hopefully we'll be able to get 'em the next.

AG: A few of the bullpen arms had a rough week. Nick Vincent in particular, giving up seven runs across his last three outings.

JD: Yeah. Nick is someone who really needs to be sharp with his command. He doesn't get the ball up there in a hurry, but he's got so much late movement on the cutter, and can usually get by despite having less zip than some of our other guys. He'll be fine. With our bullpen depth, I don't think we'll need to rely on him quite as heavily as last year, and that should help.

AG: One of the big stories so far this year- maybe the biggest story- is the relative health and wellness of the pitching staff. Thus far only five Mariner starters- a real change from last year.

JD: Well, this time last year our rotation was in pretty good shape too- it wasn't until May when Felix, Kuma, and James Paxton all got hurt at once. But we've been really healthy on both sides of the ball- it's been great. And we'll get Erasmo Ramirez back this week and plug him into the rotation, which lets us shift Wade Leblanc back to the bullpen.

AG: Leblanc has been pretty solid thus far, a 2.62 ERA in five appearances overall.

JD: Sure has. We know that his stuff plays really well against lefties, but leaving him in a couple of turns through the lineup against righties doesn't set him up well to succeed, so this'll give us a chance to have him keep up that level of performance for the rest of the year.

AG: OK, Jerry. Let's get to a little bit of mail here. Question this week is from Tim in Spokane. Tim writes, where do things stand on a contract extension for Nelson Cruz?

JD: Great question. I can tell you, and this will be of no surprise to anyone, that I'd be thrilled to keep Nelson in the fold for a couple more years. He's done nothing but hit, and he's been a great leader for our team. He's made it clear to us that he's happy here and he'd like to stay on. John Stanton and the ownership has been exceedingly generous to us over the years, and I think we'll find a way to make it work.

AG: You've finally finished a stretch of 17 consecutive games, and as we enter May, the schedule relaxes a bit, with four off-days in the next four weeks. Is it good to be home?

JD: Sure is, Aaron, it sure is. Got a chance to see our high-A affiliate the Modesto Nuts a couple days ago, and a couple of our top prospects in Evan White and Kyle Lewis. Kyle unfortunately strained his hamstring in the game that I saw, but he should be back soon. And Evan's tearing the cover off the ball so far.

AG: I would imagine the Nuts have some nut-based concessions there?

JD: They do, and better yet, they have the Nut Races! Almond, Pistachio, Walnut and Pecan dashing around the bases. Pistachio won- he wasn't quite Dee Gordon speed, but I can only imagine how hard it us to run in a giant nut costume.

AG: That sounds... interesting. Any chance we see the Nut Races in Seattle, Jerry?

JD: (laughs) No.

AG: Well, we'll wind things up here. Jerry, thanks as always for being with us.

JD: My pleasure, Aaron.

AG: We'll see you next week on The Wheelhouse.