PRO BASEBALL / MIKE HISERMAN : Mariners Find Ray of Hope in Salkeld Forecast

Rumors of Roger Salkeld’s demise were dramatically premature.

Not too long ago, sports radio listeners in Seattle would have thought the career of the Mariners’ 1989 No. 1 pick was all but over. The winter reports about Salkeld’s injured right arm were as gloomy as the Northwest weather.

Yet, only five months after surgery to rebuild the shoulder capsule of his pitching arm, the Mariners’ one-time prized prospect is throwing off a mound--and swiftly regaining velocity.

In October, Salkeld, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, reported for what he believed was minor arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur.

When he awoke two hours later, the former Saugus High star had a sizable scar on his shoulder and a formidable hurdle to clear. Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed the surgery, told Salkeld that some players never recover from such a procedure.

Salkeld’s response: “I told myself I wasn’t going to be one of those people,” he said this week from the Mariners’ clubhouse in Peoria, Ariz., the club’s extended spring training site. “The thought of not making it back never really entered my mind.”

Salkeld has made it back, at least part of the way. He is roughly five months ahead of his original rehabilitation plan. Next week, he is scheduled to pitch batting practice for the first time. He said he might pitch in a game by the middle of next month.

“Everybody has been impressed with the way he’s throwing,” said Jim Beattie, Seattle’s farm director. “His mechanics look good and the one time I saw him throw, he had some pretty good pop.”

Salkeld, whose mid-90-m.p.h. fastball made him one of baseball’s hottest pitching prospects, said he has been clocked as fast as 85 m.p.h. while pitching in the bullpen.

“He’s worked hard,” Beattie said. “He wants to get back into a game. But even if he doesn’t, even if he just throws on the side and gets himself ready for instructional league (in the fall), that would be OK too.”

Salkeld hasn’t pitched in a game since the 1991 season, which he concluded at triple-A Calgary. Salkeld started that season at double-A Jacksonville, Fla., where he had an 8-8 record, a 3.05 earned-run average and 159 strikeouts in 153 2/3 innings. After his promotion to Calgary, he was 2-1 with a 5.12 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings.

He was expected to start last season at Calgary and finish it with Seattle, probably in the starting rotation for the pitching-poor Mariners. Instead, he missed the entire season after first experiencing shoulder pain during the spring.

He was supposed to miss this season too. But Salkeld believes he can make it back to triple A by the end of the season.

Salkeld, 22, does not consider himself on a comeback trail. “I’m just picking up where I left off,” he said.

Wounded wing, Part II: For David Landaker, the road to the major leagues started on Southland freeways.

Landaker, who played shortstop and batted .526 for Royal High last season, was selected by the Houston Astros with the first pick in the second round of last June’s amateur draft.

After lengthy negotiations, he signed and reported to the Astros’ short-season rookie team in Kissimmee, Fla., in July. But he never played in a game.

Landaker worked out for two days, then told team trainers his throwing (right) shoulder ached. The diagnosis: strained tendons from overuse. The prescribed cure: a little R&R--rest; and rehabilitation.

During the off-season, Landaker made the 1 1/2-hour trip from his family’s home in Simi Valley to Orange County for rehabilitation sessions two or three times a week. “I didn’t know the freeways very well before, but I do now,” Landaker said.

His dedication has paid dividends. Landaker is in extended spring training, starting at shortstop for an Astro minor league team that is scheduled to play almost every day until early June.

“My shoulder is strong again,” said Landaker, who attributed his problems last season to an arduous schedule of high school, all-star and American Legion games. “The only feeling I have is if I have a long day or something. But I’m fine the next day.”

After the extended spring workouts, Landaker will either stay in Kissimmee and play in the rookie Gulf Coast League or be assigned to Auburn (N.Y.) in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League.

Minor mention: Craig Clayton and Greg Shockey, teammates at Cal State Northridge in 1991 when the Matadors advanced to within three outs of a berth in the College World Series, have been reunited on Seattle’s Class-A team in Riverside. Clayton, a sixth-round pick in ‘91, played third base and batted .249 for Class-A San Bernardino (now Riverside) of the California League last season. Shockey, a free agent who signed last spring, batted .289 for Bellingham (Wash.) in the Class-A Northwest League. . . .

Kevin Kloek, a teammate of Shockey’s at Northridge in ‘92, is a starter for the Milwaukee Brewers’ double-A affiliate in El Paso, which might have the best rotation in the Texas League. Kloek, a right-hander, was 10-1 with a 2.11 ERA last season for Beloit (Wis.) of the Class-A Midwest League. He gave up only 79 hits and 27 walks in 94 innings, striking out 76. Also on the team is former Providence High standout Jeff Cirillo, an infielder who last season batted .304 with nine home runs, 71 RBIs and 21 stolen bases for Beloit.