PEORIA, Ariz. -- Manager Scott Servais hasn’t announced his lineup yet for Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Padres, other than indicating young lefty Nestor Cortes will likely be the starting pitcher.

But don’t be surprised if second baseman Shed Long gets penciled in frequently in the leadoff role this spring as the Mariners look to see if the 24-year-old can provide the same combination of pop and on-base percentage he showed in a trial run last September.

The 5-foot-8, 184-pounder isn’t your classic speedy leadoff type. He’s stolen 55 bases in 77 attempts in 513 Minor League games over seven seasons with the Reds and Mariners and was 3-for-6 in 42 games with Seattle last year as a rookie.

But he has a career .351 on-base percentage in the Minors and posted a .333 mark with Seattle last season along with a .263 batting average with 12 doubles and five homers. In his September surge, Long hit .289 with four homers and an .855 OPS in 23 games, convincing the Mariners he was ready to assume both their starting second base job as well as a spot atop the batting order.

“I thought the key to Shed’s awesome September was his ability to control the strike zone,” Servais said. “His swing decisions were outstanding and when he does that, he has really good results. He can drive the ball and there’s a good chance you’ll see him up there [leading off] a bunch this spring.”

The Mariners have a speedy leadoff candidate in Mallex Smith, who led the Majors with 46 stolen bases last year. But Smith hit just .227 with a .300 on-base percentage in 134 games last year and found himself at the bottom of the order as the season progressed, with the Mariners preferring Long’s pop.

“You just go watch BP and it sounds different,” Servais said. “The ball jumps off the bat. It’s power all over the field. He drives the ball in the gaps. It’s a real threat. Certainly at the top of the lineup, if the lineup flips over and he’s at the top, it’s nice.”

The shift away from traditional speedsters atop the order has been MLB wide in recent years as teams have gone more and more to power potential.

“The best teams do have those guys,” Servais said. “We hit [Mitch] Haniger at leadoff [in 2018] and it really sparked our team. We saw what George Springer does at the top of the lineup [for Houston]. The Cubs had Kris Bryant lead off. I don’t know about that one, but having a real threat, a guy who can drive the ball and hit it out of the ballpark, it doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure.”

Pitching plans
Cortes is slated to get the first inning or two on the mound in Saturday’s 12:10 p.m. PT opener at Peoria Stadium. The 25-year-old southpaw isn’t in contention for a starting role this year, but does figure to be in the mix as a long-relief or swingman type option.

Cortes was acquired from the Yankees in November in exchange for international bonus pool money. He was 5-1 with a 5.67 ERA in 33 games, including one start, as a rookie last year for the Yankees.

Servais said he’ll follow Cortes with a host of relievers as the Mariners get their first live look at some of the young arms in camp.

The Mariners will split time over the first two Cactus League games in order to get most of their position players some action immediately, but Servais said not to read too much into lineup construction through much of the spring.

“I don’t have a lineup set yet,” he said. “It’s been crazy. Normally you walk into camp and know what your lineup is going to look like. I’ve played around with a bunch of different ideas and we’ll do it all spring. One guy might be hitting second one day and seventh the next. It’s just where we are in our development. But the big thing is to get their at-bats in.”

Other camp news
• The Mariners announced that Ichiro Suzuki will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at their Opening Day game on March 26 against the Rangers at T-Mobile Park.

• Servais expects Dee Gordon to report to camp on Friday, though he’ll need to pass a physical and probably won’t be on the field until Saturday or Sunday. The veteran second baseman has been in Florida with his wife as they had their first child, a girl named Demi, on Tuesday.

• Top outfield prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez displayed impressive power again in batting practice as they continued drawing considerable attention early in camp. First baseman Evan White also showed some pop with a blast over the center field fence on Field 6 at the complex that hit a car in the adjacent lot.

• The Mariners also got their first look at top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert with his first live batting practice. Gilbert didn’t have his best command yet and raised the heart rate on Seattle’s top brass looking on when he ducked under a line drive up the middle on one at-bat, but is an imposing figure on the mound and will be a key player to watch this spring.