Johnson Throws Bullpen Session

[JJ]

Right-hander Josh Johnson (Tommy John surgery) was at Dolphin Stadium on Thursday, where he threw a bullpen in front of pitching coach Mark Wiley and manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Less than nine months since undergoing the procedure, Johnson is throwing all of his pitches at 75-80 percent. Thursday's session lasted about 65 pitches.

At one point it was thought Johnson would miss the entire season, but it's conceivable he could be back in the second half.

"I really don't put a date on it or any time periods," said Johnson, who doesn't know when he might start a rehab assignment.

"Here and there I'll be sore and stuff. There's no avoiding it. You throw through it most of the time, unless you're actually in pain, but no pain."

Miami Herald

[FishFanInPA]

That would be a pleasant surprise for the pennant chase.

[markotsay7]

don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it don't rush it

[Cynosure]

Originally Posted by FishFanInPA That would be a pleasant surprise for the pennant chase.

If Johnson returning is a pleasant surprise, a pennant chase this year would be comparable to waking up next to Jessica Alba (well, if she'd never gotten herpes from Jeter, that is).

9-6, and beating up on Washington and Pittsburgh, is nice, but wake me up when they show that we can get through the Mets, Phillies or even the Astros...

[BeefWillingham]

We got through the Braves better than we got through the Astros.

[Cynosure]

Originally Posted by BeefWillingham We got through the Braves better than we got through the Astros.

Right. Instead of "wake me up when they show that we can get through the Mets, Phillies or even the Astros..." I SHOULD HAVE said: "Wake me up in at least another month when we've played at least a quarter of our schedule. As Yoda would say, 15 games does not a season make.

And while it is very true that if the playoffs were to start today, then we would be in because we are winning the NL East (though in all likelihood MLB would in fact allow the Mets to play their 15th game as well so we have an equal amount of games to compare schedules to). Unfortunately, we, the Marlins, have 147 games remaining. While fantasizing about the Marlins continue to win 60% of their games, I would be extremely shocked, to say the least.

I know it's no fun being the bearer of bad news, but let's be reasonable. I'm fully aware of how good our bullpen is and that our offense could be very good, our defense is rather poor and our starting rotation is more or less 'meh.' Sure, the Arizona Diamondbacks managed to win last year with a great bullpen, they also had a one man wrecking crew in Brandon Webb who routinely pitched deep into games to give that bullpen a break and a solid defense; two things we don't have (unless you think that Mark Hendrickson or Scott Olsen can give us 235+ innings with an ERA+ of 156).

Now, would I be shocked if we finished with somewhere between 78-84 wins, no.

I expected we would win ~76 this year, but am not going to let 15 games of very erratic baseball get my hopes up much higher than the aforementioned 84 wins, which I don't think will be enough to finish higher than 3rd in our division. As a second, extremely unlikely conditional, if we were somehow moved to the NL Central, I would wholeheartedly agree with the playoff chase talk. Wait, nevermind, St Louis is obviously a .688 team this year, so we couldn't win that either."

I think that does a good job of my feelings of where the Marlins currently are and where I expect them to be. IF we keep winning, I will be just as stoked as anyone else on here, but to reiterate, I'm not going to dramatically alter my expectations because of 15 erratic performances.

[BeefWillingham]

Originally Posted by Cynosure Right. Instead of "wake me up when they show that we can get through the Mets, Phillies or even the Astros..." I SHOULD HAVE said: "Wake me up in at least another month when we've played at least a quarter of our schedule. As Yoda would say, 15 games does not a season make. And while it is very true that if the playoffs were to start today, then we would be in because we are winning the NL East (though in all likelihood MLB would in fact allow the Mets to play their 15th game as well so we have an equal amount of games to compare schedules to). Unfortunately, we, the Marlins, have 147 games remaining. While fantasizing about the Marlins continue to win 60% of their games, I would be extremely shocked, to say the least. I know it's no fun being the bearer of bad news, but let's be reasonable. I'm fully aware of how good our bullpen is and that our offense could be very good, our defense is rather poor and our starting rotation is more or less 'meh.' Sure, the Arizona Diamondbacks managed to win last year with a great bullpen, they also had a one man wrecking crew in Brandon Webb who routinely pitched deep into games to give that bullpen a break and a solid defense; two things we don't have (unless you think that Mark Hendrickson or Scott Olsen can give us 235+ innings with an ERA+ of 156). Now, would I be shocked if we finished with somewhere between 78-84 wins, no. I expected we would win ~76 this year, but am not going to let 15 games of very erratic baseball get my hopes up much higher than the aforementioned 84 wins, which I don't think will be enough to finish higher than 3rd in our division. As a second, extremely unlikely conditional, if we were somehow moved to the NL Central, I would wholeheartedly agree with the playoff chase talk. Wait, nevermind, St Louis is obviously a .688 team this year, so we couldn't win that either." I think that does a good job of my feelings of where the Marlins currently are and where I expect them to be. IF we keep winning, I will be just as stoked as anyone else on here, but to reiterate, I'm not going to dramatically alter my expectations because of 15 erratic performances.

Hehe, that was not necessary. I agreed with your first post, but was just saying (maybe being difficult) that you conveniently left out taking 2 of 3 from Atlanta.

[Cynosure]

Originally Posted by BeefWillingham Hehe, that was not necessary. I agreed with your first post, but was just saying (maybe being difficult) that you conveniently left out taking 2 of 3 from Atlanta.

The Astros were a semi-non serious comment in return for what I thought was a semi-non serious comment. Both the series against them and the just completed series with the Braves, tell us little as to how good any of the 3 teams involved are. While it isn't promising for future performance that we had negative run differentials in both series, it's only 6 games and the typical small sample size (maybe that should be my name around here ) problems exist.

[Jewb]

If he is somehow available in August some point, and we're still relatively in a race, get him in there! If we're out of the race and he would only be pitching like a month anyway, keep him safe.

[Nny]

our defense actually isn't that bad

well, outside of first, second, and third. And those three haven't just been bad, but batshit bad.

but at the very least, two guys who are normally poor (Hanley and Hammer) have performed well so far.

Ofcoarse small sample size, but Hanley was fine and 2006 before the huge drop off in 2007, and Hammer has been steadily improving with experience. Our OF defense with Amezaga out there is rather nice.