M's pitching pretty, but don't ask new ace Bedard about it

Over the past two seasons combined, Bedard's cumulative 3.47 ERA is sixth-lowest in the American League, and his 392 strikeouts rank fourth behind Johan Santana (480), Scott Kazmir (402) and Javier Vazquez (397).

His 10.93 strikeouts per nine innings last season in Baltimore topped the AL, as did his .212 opponents batting average. Right-handers batted only .208 against him, second-lowest in the AL.

But don't bother asking him about his own personal highlight reels. He'll just sit silently and look at you, as if a third ear were growing out the side of your head.

No, what Bedard mostly is concentrating on this month is taking in the nuances of the best team he has ever been a part of in the spring.

"By far," he says. "Hands down."

He's 29 and debuted with the Orioles in 2002, and seven seasons later, he's finally part of a team that looks to be a contender.

"Realistically, at least," he says. "They always give you that pep talk early in the year, but in a division with Boston and New York, it's kind of hard."

Not having to face the loaded Yankees and Red Sox lineups multiple times in a season can't help but make Bedard's job easier, but he downplays that.

"I didn't mind the AL East," he says. "I've been there four or five years, I got to know all the hitters, what their tendencies are, their strengths, weaknesses. Now, I have to get to know the AL West hitters, and get to know them quickly. That's the biggest difference."

He was not surprised by the trade, because he knew new Orioles president Andy MacPhail was blowing things up to start over, and because word of the trade leaked more than a week before it actually happened.

What he wasn't expecting was to be named opening day starter in Seattle -- against Texas on March 31 -- especially so early in camp.

"That quick, yeah, I was surprised," Bedard says, before adding with a wry smile: "Hopefully, I don't give it up like I did last year. I'll get booed the whole first month."

Minnesota clobbered him last April 2 for six runs and 10 hits in only 4 2/3 innings.

"I didn't want any gray areas," McLaren says. "So we didn't have some debate in the media, with people taking polls about who should be the opening day starter."

Though Hernandez goes by the nickname of "The King," part of the Mariners' thinking was that the kid is only 21, and Bedard can help shield him from shouldering quite so much pressure.

"I told Felix, 'I think you can be the best pitcher in baseball,'" McLaren says. "But I told him, 'Right now, you just try to be the best pitcher from Venezuela.'

"He's got (Johan) Santana, (Kelvim) Escobar and (Carlos) Zambrano he has to go through, but the sky's the limit for Felix. We know that. He got frustrated at times last year. The pitch count bit him at times. We want to have him pitch inside more."

While Bedard was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in Baltimore, Hernandez was 14-7 with a 3.92 ERA. The King arrived with such hype at 19 that it's easy to take what he did last summer for granted. Too easy, really.

"He was 14-7 last year, but if you look at it the other way, if you start with the .500 mark, you like to be X number of games above .500," Stottlemyre says. "He was seven games over .500. That's a pretty damn good year."

The Man of Few Words looks around, and he smiles at what he sees. Behind Bedard and Hernandez, the Mariners line up with Washburn, Carlos Silva and Miguel Batista, who was 16-11 last season.

The terrific first impressions go both ways.

"Really, really good," Bedard says. "We have five solid starters. That's the biggest key here. A lot of teams try to get five solid starters. We have them. To have a fifth starter who's won 16 games, that's impressive."

Stottlemyre thinks the situation will result in some entertaining inside competition within the staff.

"The '86 Mets were probably the closest thing to a similar situation I've had," Stottlemyre says of a quintet that included Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda and, as a spot starter, Rick Aguilera. "When you leave spring training with five really solid starters, you hope you can keep them in the rotation all year and see, collectively, what the group can do."

As for Bedard, Seattle already feels like home. And though he has a place in town, he's barely even been there yet.

"It's great," he says. "It's pretty much where I fit in, I guess. New York, I don't know if I'd fit in there. It's a little too much for me."