NewsJohnson eager for full season of work
Florida (1-0) vs. Washington (0-1), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
04/06/09 10:37 PM ET
Ask Josh Johnson about what he's expecting out of a 2009 season full of promise, and he won't get into strikeout-to-walk ratios, ERAs or even win totals.He'll give you this timeframe: April through September.
"And maybe October," the 6-foot-7 overpowering right-hander said before Opening Day on Monday, a little more than 24 hours before he'd make his first start of the season on Tuesday.
Johnson was a standout rookie in 2006, going 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in his first full season in the big leagues. But the dreaded Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery loomed on Aug. 3, 2007. Then, for the first time since he picked up a baseball as a toddler, Johnson had to pretty much just sit and watch -- for 10 months.
Fast forward to now, and that idle time could've been a positive.
Johnson was back pitching in a Major League mound on July 10, and despite being one of the top-flight rookies just two seasons before, the now-25-year-old was stronger, smarter and, perhaps, better.
"I felt a lot stronger -- my whole body, everything," said Johnson, who finished off the 2008 season 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA in 14 starts. "It was nice to finally feel strong throughout your whole body."
The time off also gave him a whole new perspective.
"You can't take it for granted," Johnson added. "You have to make sure that you play as hard as you can, do everything you can to stay in this game as long as possible, because you never know when it's all going to end. For some people it just ends, and there's no going back.
"Every day I went into rehab, I made up my mind to go in there, work as hard as I could to make sure that, maybe if I work harder, it extends my career a couple of days at the end."
As for the immediate future, Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla doesn't want to make any guarantees, but he's got Johnson as his pick for the National League Cy Young Award.
"He's healthy, he's ready -- got a couple of years under his belt," Uggla said. "I think he's as hungry as he's ever been. He's rested, and he's got some of the best stuff in the game. And he knows how to pitch."
Yeah, there's definitely that.
With his towering frame, heavy two-seam fastball and biting slider, Johnson's one of the last hurlers NL hitters want to face. And he's definitely not somebody the Nationals want to see one day after having to go toe-to-toe with Ricky Nolasco -- an ace in his own right.
"Big guy, throws hard, throws strikes, and he has a couple of plus pitches," said Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. "He's a good pitcher, he's a tough pitcher. It's always a battle when you're against him."
Johnson's battle on Tuesday will be against former teammate Scott Olsen. In 2006, the pair was part of the first rookie foursome to each notch double-digit wins on the same team. During the second of the three-game opening series, Olsen -- who spent the past four years pitching in South Florida before being traded to the Nationals this offseason -- will oppose the Marlins in a regular-season game for the first time.
"It'll be strange, definitely," Johnson said. "We kind of got over it when we faced each other in Spring Training [on March 18], but it's still going to be weird."
Pitching matchupFLA: RHP Josh Johnson (7-1, 3.61 ERA in 2008)
A year ago, Johnson opened the season on the disabled list, as he was recovering from Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. This year, the 25-year-old is the No. 2 starter. Johnson made a strong showing in the second half of '08, finishing up with seven wins in eight decisions. He logged 87 1/3 innings. Two of his wins a year ago were against Washington. WSH: LHP Scott Olsen (8-11, 4.20 ERA in 2008)
Olsen will face the Marlins, his former team, for the first time in his career. The southpaw threw a career-high 201 2/3 innings last year. It was his best season since 2006, when he went 12-10 with a 4.04 ERA. It helped that he developed a changeup to go along with his fastball and slider. Tidbits
The Marlins are now 9-8 on Opening Day. ... Hanley Ramirez's grand slam in the sixth inning on Monday was the first of his career. It was the third time in club history that a grand slam was hit on Opening Day, joining Preston Wilson in 2002 and Juan Encarnacion in '05. ... The 12 runs for the Marlins was a new club record on Opening Day, beating the 11 they scored against the Cubs in 1998. The four home runs on Monday also set a new mark. ... Emilio Bonifacio's inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning on Monday was the 14th in franchise history and the 11th at Dolphin Stadium. The last time a Marlin hit an inside-the-parker was Sept. 27, 2006, when Ramirez did it against the Reds. ... Carl Yastrzemski was the last player to hit an Opening Day inside-the-park home run, on April 10, 1968. Tickets
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• WAXY 790, WAQI 710 (Español) Up next
• Wednesday: Marlins (Chris Volstad, 6-4, 2.88 ERA in 2008) vs. Nationals (Daniel Cabrera, 8-10, 5.25 ERA in 2008), 12:10 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
• Friday: Marlins (Anibal Sanchez, 2-2, 5.57 ERA in 2008) vs. Mets (John Maine, 10-8, 4.18 ERA in 2008), 7:10 p.m. ET
Alden Gonzalez is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
