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Geoff Baker covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout spring training, and during the season.

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March 17, 2007 3:12 PM

Putz to throw Tuesday

Posted by Geoff Baker

Word is finally back on the J.J. Putz MRI and it is pretty decent. The Mariners say Putz has a mild strain of a flexor pronator muscle, part of a group of muscles in the forearm near the elbow. Long story short, he'll have had five days between bullpen sessions by Tuesday and the team hopes the elbow stiffness and pain subsides by then.

We'll have a chat with trainer Rick Griffin about it once this game ends, likely in another inning since the M's trail 4-1 in the top of the ninth and have mustered only three hits all day.

Is this good news? Yes, it is, since Putz will start throwing again with a little less than a week's delay. But the really big news will come later Tuesday, or even on Wednesday morning. That's when we'll know whether this "mild strain" was just a one-time occurence or a potential problem that will keep coming back or getting worse. It will all depend on how much pain Putz can tolerate and how quickly this particular muscle can bounce back.

So, is the team out of the woods? Nope.

By the way, Jon Huber is pitching the ninth inning today for Seattle. Chris Reitsma did it yesterday. If you were wondering what Plan B is in the event Putz isn't ready to go by April, you're getting a sneak peak right here.

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