SEATTLE -- One of the first things Mariners left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith plans to do when he reports to Spring Training next month is introduce himself to Cliff Lee and begin a teacher-student relationship.
"I am really looking forward to meeting him, being around him, and seeing what his work habits are," Rowland-Smith said. "I have always enjoyed watching him pitch and I can learn a lot from him. I can't wait to pick his brain. I hope he doesn't mind."
Rowland-Smith, the leading candidate to join Lee and ace right-hander Felix Hernandez at the top of the Mariners' five-man starting rotation this season, looked and sounded ready to go on Saturday afternoon during FanFest at Safeco Field.
"You look forward to the start of Spring Training every year," he said, "but even more so this year because there was such a positive environment last season."
Rowland-Smith contributed five wins to the Mariners' 85-win season, spending most of the first half of the campaign on the outside looking in. He broke camp in the rotation, but suffered left triceps tendinitis in his first start of the regular season and was either on the disabled list or on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma until July 24.
The Australian native pitched well enough down the stretch, especially at home where he had a 2.70 ERA and put him in position to warrant strong consideration for a spot in the rotation this season.
"I think Rowland-Smith made huge strides last year," pitching coach Rick Adair said of the lefty who compiled a 5-4 record and 3.74 ERA in 15 starts, giving him a record of 11-7 and solid 3.62 ERA after 88 Major League appearances and 27 starts.
The Hernandez-Lee tandem gives Seattle one of the best one-two pitching punches in the Major Leagues this season, but more is needed if the Mariners are going to play well into October.
"It's nice to have the two guys at the top of the rotation that are proven winners," general manager Jack Zduriencik said, "but if we're going to be good, what falls in after that is the responsibility of every other guy."
Rowland-Smith is one of those guys.
"It's going to be a big year for him," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He's a big, strong kid and a tremendous competitor, but sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward and I think he did that last year. I think it was necessary for him to go back and find himself."
Rowland-Smith, 27, admitted on Saturday that he became frustrated last summer when he wasn't promoted earlier.
"I was frustrated," he said. "Anyone in my situation would. It was tough dealing with an injury for the first time, missing a big chunk of the season and then proving that I can pitch at the Major League level on the field.
"It's easy to look back now and say it a lot more positive than negative. I learned from it."
If he needs a refresher course in perseverance, Lee certainly could help.
"He's a guy who has gone through a couple of bumps in his career too, so he understands what that is like," Rowland-Smith said. "It will be good to be around somebody who understands the negative part of the game, as well as the positive side."
Lee won at least 14 games during his first three big league seasons with the Indians, including an 18-5 record in 2005. But less than two years later, with a 4-9 record, he was sent back to the Minor Leagues.
His next big league start was the following season and the lefty proceeded to win 19 of his first 21 outings, posted a 22-3 record overall and won the American League Cy Young Award among many other honors.
Rowland-Smith can't even imagine something like that happening to him, but . . .
"I am taking a different approach this season," he said. "I am not going to worry about where I'm going to wind up, or how many games I'm going to win or how many innings I'm going to pitch.
"I will take it one outing at a time, whether it's in April, July or September, and try to get deep into every game I pitch. That's my goal. If I can do that, the numbers will take care of themselves."
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