As a player, he would regularly bring one of his carefully crafted, weighed and dehumidified bats into his hotel room and swing it in front of a mirror on days the team traveled and he was unable to get to the ballpark. Now, even with no pitchers to face, he still does that.

“Everything is the same,” Suzuki said while sitting, in uniform and holding a bat, with gloves on, in the dugout at Camden Yards last week. “You’re not going to see me slacking.”

He has the same daily routine, including his nutrition — with one tiny variation. Instead of two or three cheeseburgers every day for lunch, Suzuki has cut down to one or two. Without burning off that handful of extra calories during games, he believes he is in danger of growing pudgy.

“I noticed that if we go on a long road trip, I will gain between 1.5 and 2 pounds,” he said.

A part of all this continued training and conditioning is Suzuki’s plan to “definitely” return as a player in 2019. The Mariners do not hide their desire to have him on their roster for their season-opening series against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome next March.

But the moment Suzuki became an executive in uniform, he lost his eligibility to play for the Mariners, who have a good chance to make the playoffs this season for the first time since Suzuki’s rookie year, 2001. M.L.B. rules prohibit any player who moves into a front-office role from playing for that team again in the same season (although he could play for another team).