M’s tell No. 1 catcher Johnson to take time

PEORIA, Ariz. – If it were up to Rob Johnson, he wouldn’t be limited in spring training.

But after a pair of hip surgeries in the offseason the Seattle Mariners aren’t taking any chances with Johnson, who came into camp as the team’s No. 1 catcher.

“I knew it was something I needed to do, because it got to the point where it was hurting pretty bad and I couldn’t move the way I like to move,” Johnson said. “I would definitely say I was nervous. I wouldn’t say I was worried, because baseball is what I do. It doesn’t define who I am.”

Safe to say, Johnson, 27, was in pain for quite some time before the operations. He split catching duties with Kenji Johjima last season for Seattle. But Johjima is gone and Johnson is in place to take over, even though he had procedures to repair torn labrums on each hip not even a month apart last fall.

Johnson has caught bullpen sessions, taken batting practice and done his running and agility drills in camp. He’s also working with Dr. Marcus Elliott, the Mariners’ director of sports science and performance, on rehabilitation and gaining mobility in his hips.

“It was a big surgery,” Elliott said. “It’s two steps forward, one step back with him.”

Johnson is eager to go full speed and acknowledges that having to slow down eats him up inside. But he realizes that taking time is critical.