Johnson Talks M’S Into Putting Him Into Bullpen
No offense to the good folk in Everett, but Randy Johnson didn’t want to pitch for the AquaSox again - so he talked the Seattle Mariners into letting him pitch for them.
Out since May 12 with a disk problem in his lower back, the 1995 Cy Young Award winner told manager Lou Piniella he thought his rehabilitation would move more quickly by working out of the Mariners’ bullpen than pitching a few more innings in Class A ball.
Piniella agreed. So meet the “Big Unit” - middle reliever.
“I felt good, I felt like it was time,” Johnson said.
“It’s a big lift for the team,” Piniella said. “We’ve got seven weeks left to the season, and any time he came back was going to be the right time. It’s good to have him back.”
Johnson pitched two innings against the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night and gave up no runs.
Johnson made one rehabilitation assignment start, a two-inning appearance Saturday in Everett, and struck out five of the six batters he faced. One radar gun clocked his best fastball at 97 miles per hour.
“We’re going to put him in the bullpen, get him some work and build his endurance until he’s ready to move into the rotation,” Piniella said. “It’s not easy to schedule, because the game will dictate when we can use him and for how long. We won’t overdo it.
“We’re basically going to use him a few times, watch how he pitches and how he responds after pitching. Let’s hope there are no setbacks.”
Initially, Seattle had hoped to start Johnson on Aug. 14 - the final game of this homestand, against Kansas City.
Now?
“We’ll see,” Piniella said, grinning. “It’s good to have him back.”
Johnson won the A.L. Cy Young Award last season, going 18-2 with a 2.48 earned-run average, and followed that this spring with a 5-0 record in his first eight starts - though three times he had to leave games early because of back pain.
Notes
Alex Rodriguez began his day leading the American League with a .360 batting average - and accepting an offer to appear on David Letterman’s Late Night show Aug. 15.
Russ Davis has had the cast removed from his left ankle but remains unable to run and has begun only the simplest rehabilitation exercises.
DH Edgar Martinez is a few days from swinging a bat because of persistent pain from the cracked ribs suffered July 20 against the Angels in Anaheim. “We hope to get him back for the East Coast trip that starts the middle of next week,” Piniella said.
No one in the A.L. has used as many starting pitchers as Seattle (14) this season, and the only team to use as many pitchers (24) is Detroit - a last-place team auditioning its entire minor-league system. The Mariners have used eight more pitchers than Texas, and twice as many starters.
To make room for Johnson on the roster, the team optioned left-hander Tim Davis to Tacoma. First baseman Ricky Jordan has been sent to join the Rainiers on the road to continue a rehab assignment he began last week in Class A Everett. Two other Seattle pitchers - Rusty Meacham and Blas Minor - cleared waivers and were assigned to Tacoma.