TUCSON, Ariz. -- The reports Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu received Saturday morning from the Peoria Sports Complex on two of his ailing pitchers were encouraging.

With general manager Jack Zduriencik watching, left-hander Erik Bedard ended two days of suspense with a 30-pitch bullpen session, and right-hander Brandon Morrow had a 20-pitch workout from a shorter distance. How they respond overnight will determine the next step.

"Everything was good, and he felt no pain," said Wakamatsu, referring to Bedard, who is recovering from a pulled muscle in his backside. "We'll see if it [the discomfort] comes back tomorrow. This should be a pretty good indication that it's doing better. But tomorrow is a big day to see where it's at."

Bedard, the projected No. 2 starter behind ace right-hander Felix Hernandez, backed out of expected bullpen sessions on Thursday and Friday. But he still wasn't feeling quite right, so he took more time for the injury to improve before testing it.

Wakamatsu said a timetable for Bedard's next Cactus League start has not been determined, and that the next step would be discussed on Monday.

Assuming Bedard has no ill effects, and he remains healthy for the remainder of Spring Training, he should be primed and ready to go for his first regular-season outing, presumably the second game of the season-opening, four-game series against the Twins in Minneapolis.

Morrow, on the other hand, might not have enough time to be ready for Opening Day.

"I still think it's going to be iffy at this point," Wakamatsu said of the team's projected fifth starter. "He didn't throw a full bullpen [on Saturday]. If he was 20 or 30 pitches at this point in a regular bullpen, I might say, 'Yeah.' But we're just going to be really careful with him."

Saturday's throwing session was the second consecutive day Morrow did more than just get treatment on his tight right forearm.

His progress from here on out will be closely monitored, and he would need several bullpen sessions before he's re-inserted back into the rotation. With Opening Day three weeks from Monday, he might not have enough time to build his arm strength to throw around 100 pitches in a game situation.

By using Morrow as the fifth starter, the Mariners could better control his workload, skipping him when there are days off. That being said, the Mariners will play seven consecutive days to begin the season before having an off-day.

Therefore, the fifth starter would be needed on April 10 against the Athletics in Oakland.

That makes it more likely that the Bay Area native would miss his first turn in the rotation and probably be replaced by left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith.

"The thing we're looking at is the pitching. We can talk about the position players and having rookies out there, but we've walked way too many guys."
-- Mariners manager
Don Wakamatsu

The Mariners have three scheduled off-days on April 13, 20 and 30, which gives them a little leeway.

"I haven't looked at the schedule that much, but I know Rick [pitching coach Rick Adair] has," Wakamatsu said. "For us, putting [Morrow] back there [No. 5] would be for two reasons.

"If he's up and rolling, it gives us Morrow, Felix and Bedard in the same rotation we planned in the first place -- those three guys in a series. But we can also skip a start in the middle of the season, if we need to do that."

With Morrow, perhaps more than any of the starters, pitch counts from start to start will be closely monitored.

"With a guy like him, if he gets to 110 pitches, in his next start we would try to limit him to fewer than 100 pitches," Wakamatsu said.

While the news out of Peoria was encouraging, looking at the stat sheet wasn't as comforting to Wakamatsu and his pitching coaches.

"The thing we're looking at is the pitching," the manager said. "We can talk about the position players and having rookies out there, but we've walked way too many guys."

Going into Saturday's game against the Rockies, Seattle pitchers had issued 64 walks in 123 innings. That is second only to the Rangers (68 in 140 2/3 innings) in the American League.

"We talk about certain organizations we respect in this game, and you look at the leader board of the least amount of walks, they're there," Wakamatsu said. "Regardless of who we are throwing out there, those are expectations that should be met.

"If we're getting hit around, but not walking anybody, at least were accomplishing one side of what we want."

Another area of concern is the amount of walks Mariners batters are getting.

Not many.

Despite plate patience being stressed, Seattle has coaxed a league-low 31 free passes.

It hasn't been as much of an issue because four of the position starters -- center fielder Ichiro Suzuki, cathcer Kenji Johjima, right fielder Endy Chavez and second baseman Jose Lopez -- are still playing in the World Baseball Classic.

But come March 25, two days after the Classic ends, look for Wakamatsu and his coaching staff to start clamping down on walks issued/accepted. Anything less than improvement in both areas won't be acceptable.