Interesting news out of Mariners' headquarters Thursday, with trainer Rick Griffin letting all of us know that a couple of key players for Seattle's 2012's season might look a little different than they did last year.
Per Griffin:
Mariners trainer Rick Griffin says Franklin Gutierrez is up to 197 pounds from 183 at season's end. Has no issues with stomach disorder.
— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) January 26, 2012
#Mariners trainer Rick Griffin says 1B Justin Smoak is down about 14 pounds from when traded to SEA and has better agility and strength
— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) January 26, 2012
Griffin-Smoak's body fat down 4% #Mariners
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) January 26, 2012
In all seriousness, this is great news for M's fans, particularly about Guti, who battled a strange stomach ailment last season and struggled mightily as a result. With the IBS problems sorted out and apparently on an eating/lifting regimen, he's gained 14 pounds of muscle, which should help to give him a little more pop at the plate.
After hitting a combined 30 home runs and driving in 134 runs in his first two seasons with the Mariners, he slumped in 2011 with just one homer and 19 RBI in 92 games. Everyone knows Guti is a wizard in the outfield, but the Mariners simply need to get more production from him on offense. This certainly can't hurt.
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