The Battery: Felix Hernandez and Kenji Johjima

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Mariners/MLB

Friday, March 31, 2006

The Battery: Felix Hernandez and Kenji Johjima
They represent hope for the future, an ace from Venezuela and a catcher from Japan

By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The catcher is 29. The pitcher is 19.

The catcher is Japanese. The pitcher is Venezuelan.


		Scott Eklund / P-I Photo Illustration
	Felix Hernandez (left, right-handed starter) and Kenji Johjima (catcher).

The catcher has never played in the big leagues. The pitcher has, but barely -- just 12 games.

The catcher may be a star in the making. The pitcher is a star now, if the photo shoots by Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, Baseball Weekly, ESPN The Magazine and every Northwest newspaper special section are any indication.

The catcher is crucial to any success the Mariners may have this year.

The pitcher? Ditto.

Kenji Johjima and Felix Hernandez are not joined at the hip. Their fates may be, though, at least as far as Seattle baseball is concerned.

Johjima gives the Mariners a presence behind the plate the club has lacked since the halcyon days of Dan Wilson. Hernandez gives the Mariners the most dominating pitching force to come out of the franchise's minor league system maybe ever.

And every five days or so, they will have to work in symmetry. There may be a bit of a learning curve -- they'd never met until this year -- but both sides seem to believe in the strength of the pairing.

"Felix can throw any of his pitches in any count," Johjima said. "He has three really good pitches, and he has control with all three. You don't see that in many pitchers."

Also frequently not seen are 19-year-old pitchers in the big leagues. And young pitchers with poise are almost as rare. Add in a 96-mph fastball, nasty changeup and big-breaking curve, and you've got the makings of quite a performer. But, wait. The kid is just 19.

For Johjima, the age was a concern. Sure, the kid could throw lightning bolts with his right arm. But did he have the mental capacity needed to climb to the top of the heap?

The second game of Hernandez's spring showed Johjima all he needed to see.

Johjima sat out the game March 12 against the Rangers, but watched closely as Hernandez, with Rene Rivera catching, got squeezed by the plate umpire on balls and strikes.

"I know he was frustrated, but you could not tell it just by looking at him," Johjima said. "That's a good thing for a pitcher. He wasn't upset. He wasn't showing any emotion at all, no signs of anything.

"When you combined that with the power of his pitches, his potential is huge."

Johjima said Hernandez is a special case as pitchers go.

"My job usually is to make the pitcher better," he said. "When the pitcher is in top form, there is nothing a catcher can do, though. So my job really is to help make him better when he is not as good.

"In Felix's case, it's different. He has great stuff. So you just have to let him pitch. He's that good."

And what of Johjima? What of his coming in cold to work with the Seattle pitching staff?

"I don't think any of the things (that have been speculated on) about communication are a problem," Hernandez said. "I'd say we already have pretty good communication."


		AP
	Johjima

Johjima has picked up some English and some Spanish, the better to communicate with his pitchers. And make no mistake about it, he believes they are his pitchers. Reports from Japan suggest he makes the success of the members of his pitching staff an integral part of his own.

"I have to help the pitcher succeed," Johjima said. "I need to know the hitters and know my pitchers so that I can call a good game. It's my goal to give my pitcher every chance to get a win."

Hernandez said whatever a pitcher needs from a catcher, Johjima is able to provide.

"I need for a catcher to call a good game, to catch a good game and have good defense, and Johjima does that." Hernandez said. "To me, the most important player on the field is the catcher. He can see everything that's happening."

As in any relationship, there will be growing pains as Johjima and Hernandez start on roughly parallel courses. Hernandez has seen only nine of the other 13 American League teams in regular-season play and none of the 16 in the National League. Johjima, other than spring training, hasn't seen any of them up close and personal.

They will have to learn as they go. Johjima has a little black book filled with ideas and plans gleaned from talking with his pitchers after games this spring. He's talked with Hernandez and the rest of the pitching staff about their likes and dislikes.

"Joh knows baseball," Opening Day starter Jamie Moyer said. "You can tell he's got the mental part of the game down.

"He's got some things to learn, but he knows what he's doing behind the plate. You can see it in the way he works. And he works hard."

The mental part of the game is high on Hernandez's agenda, too. He may be just a kid (he turns 20 next month), but the big picture is already in his view.

"I know this is a physical game," Hernandez said. "But the mental part of it is so important. It's important for me and important for the team."