Seager looks to heat up in heart of Texas

ARLINGTON -- Kyle Seager has gotten off to a slow start at the plate this season, but the Mariners' third baseman says he's fixed what he felt was a problem in his swing and is seeing the ball well now.

It can't hurt that the Mariners opened a four-game stand at Texas, where he is hitting .379 with 13 doubles, six home runs and 17 RBIs in 25 games after going 2-fo-4 with an RBI in Monday's 7-1 victory.

"I actually feel pretty good," said Seager, who brought a .121 batting average into the series. "I think I got out of my swing a little. I was over-striding a little bit. I kind of lost my angle, but I feel better now and I'm seeing the ball well, so I think it'll turn around here pretty quickly."

Manager Lloyd McClendon talked to Seager on Monday about relaxing and letting his instincts take over at the plate.

"I told him the biggest thing he needs to do is get out of the way and just let his talent take over," McClendon said. "Sometimes we out-think ourselves a little bit. Listen, he's got a nice track record and I think we'd all agree he's going to hit and produce.

"I don't think there's any adjustments that need to be made. He just needs to continue to grind it out. Maybe it'll take a broken-bat hit, but he's going to hit. You can check the book. He's going to hit. He's played 10 games and probably has 40 at-bats. I think we're OK. He's going to be just fine."

Seager says his swing got too long, so he's tightened that up and is confident better results are ahead.

"If you get off to a slow start, it's a little more visible than if you have 400 at-bats and your average doesn't vary as much," he said. "But it's early in the year and I feel good, so we'll go from there."

McClendon did say he thought Seager wore down at the end of last season, when he played a team-high 160 games, and he hopes to keep him more in the 150-game range this year.