Rain pushing Mariners under cover today

Franklin Gutierrez and Chone Figgins survey the large puddle adjacent to the Mariners main practice field Sunday as wet weather arrived in force. (Photo by Greg Johns).

After dealing with 35-40 mph winds on Saturday, the Mariners got hit with another Mother Nature curveball on Sunday as rain is forcing some change in plans.

The hitters will move into the covered cages for today’s batting practice, though there is hope that things clear enough at some point to allow fielders to catch fly balls out on the main field.

Pitchers were already scheduled for a light day with no bullpen sessions planned, so they’ll likely have a quick and easy day. Which is probably a good thing at this point, since they’ve been in camp for eight days now.

All pitchers have thrown three bullpen sessions and now are going to take it easy for a couple days before beginning to throw live batting practice. For the first couple days, hitters will work with coaches throwing BP before pitchers take over.

Then, of course, it’s all about getting ready for the games to begin. The Mariners have an intrasquad game planned for Feb. 25, with the first Spring Training game on Feb. 27 with the annual charity game against the Padres.