"Seattle closer uses mental toughness" -- July 24, 2006

BY CALEB BREAKEY
THE OLYMPIAN

SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners closer J.J. Putz knows how Dr. Jekyll feels when anger evokes Mr. Hyde's tempered persona.

The hard-throwing right-hander has a beast of his own inside him.

"A switch goes on in the ninth inning," Putz said. "I'm usually a passive guy, but when I come into a game, I hate everything. I guess that's how I get myself psyched up. All I see is the mitt, and I want to pound the mitt as hard as I can."

The Mariners handed Putz the closer's job after the team split ties with Eddie Guardado in June.

Putz, who owns a 2-0 record and 2.47 ERA this season, said Guardado's mentoring bolstered his mental toughness.

"You knew coming into the game that you were in for a battle when you stepped in the box versus Eddie," Putz said. "He's going to give you everything he's got. Here comes my fastball, see if you can hit it."

Mental toughness is the hardest part of baseball, Putz said, and that's where Guardado was helpful to the Mariners' 6-foot-5, 250-pound stopper.

Putz, who regularly hits the upper-90s on the radar gun, explained the ups and downs that closers face:

"There are games where you feel like you could hit a gnat in the (rear end)," he said. "Next thing you know, you're giving up two runs and the lead is gone. You're like, 'How the heck does that happen?' "

In other games, Putz said he doesn't have a clue where the ball is going, yet it results in a 1-2-3 inning.

The Mariners' ninth-inning man said every player catches a break from time to time, whether it's a good defensive play behind him or an opposing player's miss at a pitch over the middle of the plate.

"That's the weird thing about this game, nobody is ever perfect," he said. "Even in a perfect game, I guarantee the guy hasn't thrown the ball everywhere he wanted to. He got away with some."

Putz said closers have little room for error and need to make adjustments between every pitch, as opposed to starting pitchers who adapt to hitters over several innings.

He craves to pitch against the league's premier hitters, naming Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero and Hank Blalock.

"You want to face the best, because they bring out the best in you," Putz said. "Those are the ones you want. That's what you live for."

Reliever Mark Lowe, who's dazzled the Mariners by posting a 1-0 record and striking out eight in 72/3 innings, said Putz welcomed him and showed him his pitching routine.

The Mariners bullpen is a tight-knit, collective unit from the first guy to the last, Putz said.

Starter Gil Meche said he feels comfortable handing the game over to Putz in the late innings, especially because of the closer's dominating fastball.

"When you got a guy coming out of the pen who's more of a spot guy, the margin for error is not as big as a guy throwing 95-96," Meche said. "That's a good thing to see at the tail end of the bullpen, guys who can blow fastballs by people and not have to worry about so much control."

The Mariners' hard-throwing bullpen draws comparisons to the 2001 group of relievers that included Kazuhiro Sasaki, Jeff Nelson and Arthur Rhodes. However, manager Mike Hargrove said comparing the two bullpens is like comparing "apples and oranges" because each hurler's pitching style is different.

Hargrove said his favorite bullpen option is a power arm, and that several managers share his opinion.

Still, closers who only throw fastballs usually aren't successful, said Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, who homered off Putz with two outs in the ninth inning on Sunday to tie the game at 8.

"That's what has developed J.J. into the role he's in -- the development of his other pitches," Varitek said. "I don't think hard throwing has everything to do with it. J.J. has a split, curveball and slider. Just a hard thrower in this game doesn't necessarily matter."

The 23-year-old Lowe, who's clung to Putz's knowledge since making the jump from Double-A to the big leagues, is already imitating the monster inside Putz.

"When you go in there, you have to know you're better than anybody who steps foot in that box," he said. "It's just confidence, knowing you're better than them."