HOUSTON -- Dismissing spring training statistics is an annual rite of passage, particularly when those stats are compiled by veterans with extensive track records for performing when the stakes are higher during the regular season.
For Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais, that means not putting much stock in the Cactus League struggles of right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, who posted a 7.13 ERA and a .311 opponents' batting average over 17 2/3 innings and six spring training starts.
Iwakuma (16-12, 4.12 ERA in 2016) will make his season debut on Tuesday in the second game of a three-game set with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.