Catch as catch can

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Catching can be harmful to your health...

• Starting catcher, Kenji is already on the DL with a broken toe.
• Backup catcher, Rob is extremely beat up, among other things, fouled a ball off his instep on Friday night and needs some rest.
• Backup to the backup catcher, Guillermo is now ALSO a bit beat up and you gotta have a backup, so....

M's have recalled Jamie Burke (he'll be catching EriK in today's game) - welcome back, Jamie!

To make room, Denny Stark has been designated for assignment - good luck, Denny.

Stark has undergone two Tommy John surgeries, missed the 2006 and 2007 seasons and this season is the first time since 2004 he pitched in the major leagues.

"Are you disappointed?" Stark asked rhetorically of the demotion. "Of course you are. Every player that's in Triple A right now, wants to be in the big leagues or on a big-league roster."

But he also was able to put the move in perspective.

"I take things in stride," he said. "I know where I was two years ago. I never knew if I would walk back into a big-league clubhouse. You just hold your head up high and move on, and take each day, and that's one thing, I've been grateful for every day that I got to walk into this clubhouse.

"The fact of everything that I had been through, I walk out of here with my head up high and the one thing that I've always taken pride is to leave everything on the field and go out there, and every game give 100 percent. I walk out of here today knowing I did that, and I didn't give away any outings."

TOOLS OF IGNORANCE

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courtesy Kirby Arnold| HeraldNet


KENJIjohjima
EVERYDAY CATCHER
.227 | 7 HR | 39 RBI
Despite Johjima's struggles in 2008 and a wealth of catching talent in the Mariners' system, new manager Don Wakamatsu said before spring training began that Johjima would be his starting catcher. That raised a few eyebrows because Johjima loomed to miss most of spring training while he played for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. The WBC was a positive experience for Johjima, who batted .353 in nine tournament games and came back as a more confident catcher.

"I think the WBC had a strong effect on him," Wakamatsu said. "He gained some confidence and some of that leadership came out." Wakamatsu said he didn't see that a week before spring training, when Johjima flew to Arizona and spent two days working out and meeting with the manager before returning to Japan for the WBC.

"It showed me how much passion he has," Wakamatsu said. "I actually told him he didn't need to come over, and he still came over. We got a chance to sit down and talk about my managerial style and what I expect from a catcher and the onus we're putting on the pitchers here now. I think that took some pressure off him.

"When he came out and we worked out, he wasn't nearly as open as he was when he came back. I saw a transformation." Johjima went 5-for-11 with a home run in his first four games back with the Mariners at spring training, and he has gone out of his way to connect with the pitching staff. Not only has he approached new pitchers on the team to learn their repertoire, he re-visited the returning pitchers for a refresher on changes they've made since last season.

"There was finger-pointing all over the place last year. At least that's what I heard coming in here," Wakamatsu said. "But I couldn't be more pleased with his interaction with the pitchers."



ROBjohnson
BACKUP CATCHER
.305 | 9 HR | 49 RBI*
Five years after he broke into pro ball with the Everett AquaSox, Johnson is on his way to making the Mariners' opening-day roster for the first time. He has gotten most of the playing time behind the plate in the past week when Johjima hasn't started. Johnson has long been considered the Mariners' best defensive catching prospect, although he hit the ball well last year at Class AAA Tacoma and continued it at spring training this year. Entering Thursday, he was batting .364 with one home run and four RBI.

*Hitting statistics at Class AAA Tacoma in 2008

Mariner Matters | 3.28

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WBC leaves Kenji with a little "catching up" to do...
Changing signs and various adjustments that were made in his absence in early spring have left Joh with his work cut out for him.




No one seems to be stepping up to grab the closer's role...
Some are returning from injury (Walker, Corcoran), some have been hit hard (Lowe, Messenger) and others have pleasantly, unexpectedly, surprised (Ardsma and Kelley). Then there's the old vet Miggy who is trying to make his case by experience and health (that he lacked last season).




The praise just keeps on coming for Lopey....
He was named to the All Tournament Team from the WBC and gets high praise from his fellow Venezuelan Mariner teammate, Felix...

Last year with the Mariners was a banner season offensively for Lopez, even as he did it in relative anonymity. He batted .297, hit 17 homers and drove in 89 runs. He then went and played 28 games in his home country over the winter, hitting .349 and driving in 34 runs.

"He's so mature now. He knows what he's doing and he's going to have a good year," said pitcher Felix Hernandez, his teammate in Seattle and on the Venezuelan team. "He's got more confidence and he knows what he has to do. He knows what he can do."

RRS (aka "the Hyphenator) - rotation or relief?
One of the bright spots late last season, Ryan just working to improve.

"Every start I learned something new about myself," Rowland-Smith said. "I'm slowly learning what kind of pitcher I am and maybe the end of this season I can come back and say this is the kind of pitcher I am.