JUPITER, Fla. — Ichiro Suzuki sits at his locker, an interpreter by his side, and the nature of conversation with the future Hall of Famer gives him extra time to craft a response to the question: How much longer does he expect to play?

The query is relayed to him in Japanese. Suzuki smiles as he replies with a joke that loses nothing in translation.

“At least until 50,” he says in Japanese.

Everyone laughs despite the serious subject matter. Baseball does indeed have a clock and Suzuki is racing it.

At 42, the Miami Marlins’ outfielder is the second-oldest player in the majors, three months younger than Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon.

Suzuki’s productivity declined dramatically last year, his first in Miami. Even though he played in 153 games due to injuries to teammates, including Giancarlo Stanton, he batted a career-low .229. His .279 slugging percentage ranked 230th and last among hitters with at least 325 plate appearances, and his .561 OPS was fourth-worst.

It wasn’t a sudden drop: Suzuki, who has played in at least 143 games each of the past 15 seasons, the longest such streak in the majors, has a career average of .314 but hasn’t batted .300 since 2010.

But he has 2,935 hits, leaving him on the verge of a milestone that tempers any temptation to retire. Anyway, he’s not yet ready to make concessions to the clock.

“Nothing has stopped me because of the way I feel or the way I’m performing physically,” Suzuki said. “That may come down the road. Right now I haven’t changed anything.”

He denies that chasing 3,000 is the motivation to keep going, saying he plays because he loves the game. But the countdown will add uncharacteristic drama this season for the perennial also-ran Marlins.

“It would be an unbelievable great thing,” Suzuki said. “But I’m a fourth outfielder. If I was a starter heading into this year it would be different. I could say in two months I should be there. You don’t know what kind of opportunities I’ll have.”

METS: David Wright, working his way back from an injury-plagued season, went 1 for 5 with a single during a simulated minor-league game.

It was the first game action of the spring for Wright, who said he’s itching to get on the field but also was nervous.

n Right-hander Jacob deGrom was scratched from a start against Detroit because of back stiffness.

CUBS: Chicago announced several moves to reduce the roster for the major-league camp to 56 players.

Pitchers Andury Acevedo and Eric Jokisch, and first baseman Dan Vogelbach were assigned to Triple-A Iowa.

n Jake Arrieta struck out five batters in four innings and left with the game tied 1-1 before the Padres got to Chicago’s bullpen for a 10-2 win at Mesa, Arizona.

CARDINALS: Shortstop Jhonny Peralta returned to the spring training site wearing a cast and with his left arm in a sling. There’s still no updated timetable for his return from thumb surgery.

Peralta said he’ll be in the cast for two weeks and then stitches will come out. Before the surgery Wednesday, the team estimated he’d be out 2 to 3 months.

MARINERS: Felix Hernandez allowed three runs on six hits in 21/3 innings in his spring debut, and a Seattle split squad fell to Colorado 6-4 at Peoria, Arizona.

REDS: Raisel Iglesias, recovering from shoulder weakness, gave up a run in one inning in his delayed debut for Cincinnati in a 10-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe, Arizona.