PEORIA, Ariz. -- Evan White wants to take it in stride, but there’s no hiding the disappointment in his voice as the Mariners promising first-base prospect has been shut down for the past week after straining his hamstring on what could have been the highlight moment of his first Major League camp.

The Mariners’ 2017 first-round Draft pick ripped a line drive to right field in the eighth inning of Seattle’s 11-3 win over the Reds on Feb. 25, a ball that appeared to many onlookers -- including White -- to have cleared the fence at Peoria Stadium. Instead, the ball bounded off the wall and as the 22-year-old geared back up to hustle into second base, he strained his hamstring.

White wanted to keep playing, but eventually took the advice of Mariners manager Scott Servais and Seattle’s training staff and shut things down completely for the past week before being allowed to take batting practice on Wednesday.

“It’s frustrating because you want to go out there and show what you can do, especially when everyone is here,” said White, the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. “But it makes sense. It was kind of tough for me to wrap my mind around at first, but you just have to be smart and mature about it and listen to [Servais] and all those other guys telling me to be smart.”

White is a defensive standout at first base, where he won the Minor League Gold Glove Award last year. But he's impressed with his bat as well this spring, hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a pair of doubles in his first five games.

“I’ve seen a lot of good things,” Servais said. “Evan has gotten a lot stronger and is driving the ball better. He’s always hit the ball hard, but I think the fact he’s getting the ball in the air more consistently, it played out at the end of last season for him when he hit a bunch of home runs and had a nice run the last month and a half. We saw it carry into this camp as well.

“He’ll get back in there in the next few days. I’m really looking for him to have that next step forward in his Minor League season this year, wherever that’s at.”

White spent last year at Class A Advanced Modesto and is likely ticketed to start the upcoming season with Double-A Arkansas. The Mariners want him to get healthy now so he won’t have any issues once the real games begin. White is confident that he’ll be ready to return before the Cactus League concludes.

“I’ve had a lot of lower leg extremity issues, and this isn’t nearly as bad as anything I’ve had before,” White said. “I’m just trying to be smart with it, and when we get to the season, I think I’ll be playing. In the season, you try to push it a little, but right now is not the time to do that. It makes sense, but it is frustrating.”

Domingo does it again

New left fielder Domingo Santana continued displaying some significant power with his fourth home run of the spring in Wednesday night’s 7-4 loss to the A’s at Peoria Stadium.

The 26-year-old from the Dominican Republic, acquired from the Brewers for Ben Gamel in December, has been Seattle’s best hitter in the early going. Santana is 8-for-18 with a double and eight RBIs in addition to the quartet of long balls in his first seven games.

Santana’s solo shot in the third off A’s starter Brett Anderson came on a deep fly to center that just kept carrying.

“Obviously, Santana continues to swing the bat well,” Servais said. “He hits the ball high and they just keep going. Some guys have that ability. He’s really strong and the ball on the inner part of the plate, he’s able to -- I don’t want to say muscle it out to center field -- but at times, it kind of looks like that. He gets it up in the air, and the ball was carrying.”

The Mariners also got a three-run blast by center fielder Braden Bishop, his second homer in Cactus League play. The former University of Washington standout continues making his bid for a backup outfield spot with Mallex Smith’s status up in the air as he returns from a strained right elbow.

“Bishop does have some pop,” Servais said. “He’s really gotten a lot better. He continues to improve every step of the way and hopefully he keeps getting better. I like what we’re seeing there.”

Upcoming pitching probables

The Mariners tentative pitching plans for the rest of this week will have Yusei Kikuchi starting against the Reds in Goodyear on Thursday night, Marco Gonzales facing the Cubs on Friday night and right-hander Erik Swanson -- who was acquired from the Yankees as part of the James Paxton deal -- making his first start on Saturday afternoon against the Dodgers in Glendale.

The Mariners have a split-squad day on Sunday, with Mike Leake and Felix Hernandez tentatively slated to face the Indians in Peoria and the Angels in Tempe in a pair of 1:10 p.m. PT games, though it's not finalized yet who will pitch which game.

Up next

Kikuchi makes his third Cactus League start in Thursday’s 5:05 p.m. PT game against the Reds at Goodyear Stadium, having allowed two earned runs and four hits over five innings in his first two outings. The Japanese free agent appears on target to slot in as Seattle’s No. 2 starter when the season opens in Tokyo in two weeks. Hard-throwing Gerson Bautista, lefty specialist Zac Rosscup and returnees Dan Altavilla and Shawn Armstrong are among the relievers slated to throw.