By Ryan Divish

The Seattle Times

PEORIA, Ariz. — The wait is over for Mallex Smith. After being limited to minimal activity for the first three weeks of spring training with an elbow strain in his throwing arm, the Mariners center fielder has been cleared to resume throwing and start hitting after meeting with team doctors on Monday.

“Very encouraging, he went out and actually threw a little yesterday after he saw the doctor to get that process going,” manager Scott Servais said. “No issues there. He’ll start swinging the bat today and do some dry swings and a little bit in the cage and kind of start building him up to get him ready to get in some games.”

Smith reported to camp with the elbow issue, having injured it during offseason workouts where he was trying to build arm strength. His only on-field activity has been baserunning drills and defensive work that doesn’t require throwing. The amount of time being shutdown is significant and a minor hindrance to getting him ready for the season.

“I’m more concerned about getting the at-bats,” Servais said. “His arm is going to be fine. It’s just getting him built up. But I’m more concerned about if we can get him some at-bats, as soon as possible, but also give him some time to get rounds of batting practice, and live BP. Minor League camp starts going now so maybe an opportunity to get some at-bats there or intrasquad games, things like that. But it’ll be a few days before he’s ready for that.”

Given his personality and his enthusiasm, there might be a concern Smith would push too much to get back and ready for the team’s trip to Japan. But Servais said the team will monitor all of Smith’s activity. They won’t let him be overeager to the point of a setback.

“We control that,” Servais said. “He’s not going to be in the cage without a hitting coach. He’s not going to do anything too crazy, the slower the better. It’s a long season. You’re not going to rush out there just to play in two games or even to be sure he’s ready for opening night when we get back to Seattle. That’s secondary. We’ve got time.”

They are going to start Smith with the things that players did in the first days of workouts.

“He needs to go through all the movement and prep and do all the things guys were doing the first few days,” Servais said. “You can’t just say we’re going to do flips for a few days and then fire him right in there. We have to be patient and let it build up. But there’s not a ton I need to see. Just get him healthy and then fire him out there and let him play.”

Since he was first diagnosed with the elbow strain, the Mariners assumed Smith wouldn’t be ready to play in the two-game series vs. the A’s in Japan (Mach 20-21). That hasn’t changed.

“It would be pretty tough,” Servais said. “I don’t expect him to. He’s going to need 6-7 days just working up to getting close to games. Remember, he hasn’t touched a bat since he’s been here. So it takes a little time.”

The Mariners will have a decision to make with Smith going into the Japan series and his status on the roster. They can’t just put him on the 10-day injured list, formerly the disabled list, and have him eligible for the home opener. If the Mariners were to place Smith on the IL for those games, the 10-day minimum that he must sit out is put on hold till Seattle’s season re-opens on March 28 vs. the Red Sox at T-Mobile Park. The days in between the final game in Japan and the home opener don’t count toward the 10-day minimum.

Realistically, the Mariners can keep Smith off the IL and on the active roster for the two games, even if he can’t play, because they get to carry a 28-man roster for the two games in Japan.

“It does play into it a little,” Servais said. “I’m not going to get all hung up on it. You can have 28 guys go over, you can only play 25 on the card and play with 25 during the game, but you have three others on a taxi squad. Could he be part of that? I’m not sure. Those are decisions from the front office. Jerry (Dipoto) and the guys will make the best call there. A lot will depend how fast he’s coming along and is there a situation he can help us in those games, whether it’s pinch run or something like that. We’ll have a better feel for that when we get to the end of this week and see how he’s progressing.”

If Smith isn’t projected to be ready for that opening series vs. Boston, then an IL stint before the Japan series is possible. The Mariners could take an extra center fielder, likely Braden Bishop, to Japan as insurance.

Meanwhile, the Mariners all-star right fielder, Mitch Haniger, who will likely start the games in center in Japan, was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with continued lower back stiffness.

“Mitch texted me yesterday and said, ‘Skip, I feel good. But let’s give it another day,’” Servais said. “It’s totally fine. I get it. He was in the lineup today. I texted with him yesterday, the doctor looked at him, it’s just a little back stiffness. But there’s no reason to push it right now.”

Haniger hurt his back while doing dead lifts on Sunday morning before the team workout.

“Same thing I’ve been doing probably the past eight years,” he said. “I kind of lost my form a little bit and tweaked my back. I would assume in another day or two I’ll be good to go.”

Haniger is still doing the pregame workouts on the field, taking batting practice and catching flyballs.

“I hit after I did it on Sunday, but I didn’t want to make anything worse,” he said.

Also on the mend

• Mariners prospect Evan White is still battling some minor hamstring discomfort. White tweaked it over a week ago, took a few days off and then appeared in a game vs. the Rangers. But Servais could see White favoring it slightly.

“I still didn’t feel he was 100 percent, so I pulled the plug on that one,” Servais said. “I don’t want him to do anything crazy or think that he has to do it. Evan is not in a position to make our team out of this camp, so let’s not screw up his season and really put him behind the eight-ball for 6-8 weeks. I told him you’re not going on the field or doing anything for the next 3-4 days. Today is like Day 3 of that. I would expect we’ll see him in some games before we leave again, but no hurry.”

• Right-hander Anthony Swarzak (shoulder inflammation) has returned to a throwing program.

“He’s throwing bullpens,” Servais said. “His first bullpen the other day went very well. He feels good about it. So he’ll have another bullpen before he starts working toward live BP.”

• Right-hander Sam Tuivailala is ahead of schedule in his return from season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon. He has been in a throwing program and could pitch off the mound soon.

“He’s moving toward that,” Servais said. “He’s kind of ahead of schedule. He’s worked his tail off to get there. He’ll definitely be throwing bullpens before we leave here. That’s what I’ve been told.”