Rays/MLB

Hendrickson shows Rays can pencil him in

A six-inning outing puts the lefty on target for the regular season.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published March 27, 2006

FORT MYERS - The question no longer seems to be whether Mark Hendrickson will be ready to start the season in the Devil Rays rotation. Now it's a matter of seeing how well he can do.

Hendrickson showed the Rays he is ready to go with a strong six-inning performance in Sunday's 7-5 win over the Twins, and assuming there are no morning-after pains or a recurrence of the hip problem that slowed him earlier, he should be in the opening week rotation.

"He's fine," manager Joe Maddon said. "He's going to be in there. He's got to be there. I'm sure he's fine. I saw nothing wrong with that.

"Of course we'll wait until (today) to see how everything washes out, but he looked really good (Sunday). That might have been our best performance of the spring right there. I'm talking about pitch count, strike throwing, (being) in control, in command of the game. He did a great job."

Hendrickson threw 80 pitches, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out two while showing a quality sinker. The Rays were pleased with what he did, how he did it and how he came off the mound to make several plays with no issues from the bruised upper leg that slowed him earlier.

"I thought he threw the ball great," pitching coach Mike Butcher said. "I'm excited about what he did out there: located his pitches, had good feel, looked comfortable, made some nice plays. All around he did a nice job."

Hendrickson was able to keep his arm in shape by playing catch despite being restricted from throwing off a mound for several weeks, so he and the Rays figured he would be able to catch up quickly when he resumed pitching and be ready to open the season on time. With a two-inning outing March 16, a four-inning effort in a minor-league game Tuesday and Sunday's showing, they appear to be right.

"That was very productive. ... It was good today to get stretched out and see how the hip felt. I didn't have any real problems with it, so that's a good sign," Hendrickson said. "I need that other outing (Friday) to kind of duplicate what I did today to feel like I built up some stamina."

The Rays are still sorting out the order of their rotation behind opening-day starter Scott Kazmir and whether the fifth starter will be incumbent Doug Waechter or Edwin Jackson.

But with three starters 25 or younger, they will count heavily on Hendrickson, 31, who has been their leading winner each of the past two seasons - with 10 in 2004 and 11 in 2005 - and has pitched the most innings, 3612/3, over that span.

"I think he can be a stabilizer, actually," Maddon said. "He's got the 11 wins coming out of last season, and I think that's something to build off of. Experience-wise he's got to feel more comfortable out there. I've seen him really good in the past. I know when he keeps the ball down and mixes his pitches up, he's pretty tough. I think it's a maturation process for him to get better, and I think we'll be better behind him, also."

Hendrickson said he has his usual, simple goal and welcomes the opportunity to meet it: "Every fifth day, count on me to go out and get the ball. That's something I take pride in, making 30-plus starts a year and doing what I need to to prepare myself for that."

[Last modified March 27, 2006, 00:31:13]