I think Josh Johnson will be a very solid pitcher down the line, but I wonder if he has the potential to be great. He has a plus plus slider and nice change up, but at 6'7'' 240 pounds adding just 3-4 MPH to his fastball could turn him into a future ace. Right now if he REALLY reaches back he can hit 93.

 

I wonder how much precedent there is in the past of a guy adding a couple notches to his fastball at age 22. It seems to me that a fastball isn't something that is taught or developed, you just have it from an early age ( by early age, I mean about 17-19). But again..witht the size Johnson has, it just seems he could get his fastball in the 95-97 MPH range and go from solid starter to an ace.

 

Can anybody think of a pitcher who has added a couple notches to his fastball while in the majors ? I know a guy like Curt Shilling struggled early on, but it seems like most guys like him already have that major heat, they just need to learn control...

 

Hope noone takes this a knock on Johnson, just wondering about it and thinking out loud to you guys.

It doesn't matter if he's great. By 2008 he will be a 5th option (probably out of the lineup)

 

(Willis)

Olsen

Sanchez

Petit

Nolasco

Volstad

(maybe even West)

 

 

He's a guy that I would love to trade now while his value is at its highest. He may not pan out, and there is a risk involved that if he doens't do well this year and next, we'll be stuck with him without value.

He's big, he's strong and he can throw strikes. Did I mention he's big and throws strikes? (hehe)

 

Why the heck you'd want to move him when he's just getting his feet wet is beyond me. There's nothing to be gained and so much to lose by doing so.

 

Johnson is here now. He is a major league starter, now. We are playing games now.

 

You're already penciling in Volstad, Sanchez, Petit and Nolasco as starters in 2008 when not one of them has thrown so much as one pitch as a major league starter. Who knows if they will succeed or not? Apply the same theory you have about Johnson to them (which is that he fails) where are we then? I hope they do succeed but in the interim you don't bite your nose to spite your face. Johnson is in the rotation now, he's needed there, now, it's lunacy to trade him when no alternative exists, unless maybe you want to see Nate Bump starting.

 

And this idea that Johnson value will never be higher than it is right now is in my mind, silly.

Everytime I see Johnson pitch I am impressed. His breaking pitches are some of the best on the staff. All he needs to do is build up stamina.

 

I agree with 2003, penciling in guys for the 2008 season is lunacy. Especially Volstad, players like him flame out all the time.

He's big, he's strong and he can throw strikes. Did I mention he's big and throws strikes? (hehe)

 

Why the heck you'd want to move him when he's just getting his feet wet is beyond me. There's nothing to be gained and so much to lose by doing so.

 

Johnson is here now. He is a major league starter, now. We are playing games now.

 

You're already penciling in Volstad, Sanchez, Petit and Nolasco as starters in 2008 when not one of them has thrown so much as one pitch as a major league starter. Who knows if they will succeed or not? Apply the same theory you have about Johnson to them (which is that he fails) where are we then? I hope they do succeed but in the interim you don't bite your nose to spite your face. Johnson is in the rotation now, he's needed there, now, it's lunacy to trade him when no alternative exists, unless maybe you want to see Nate Bump starting.

 

And this idea that Johnson value will never be higher than it is right now is in my mind, silly.

 

 

 

I agreed with you completely as I think he can be a solid 2-3 pitcher in the major leagues.

 

I dont know for the precident of adding some more to his fastball at 22 years old. But how many 22 year olds are up in the majors already I am curious.

Dude could be a beast, and velocity gets added all the time in someone his age. It's not unusual for college pitchers to turn pro and add on.

Yeah, adding velocity at that age does happen. The thing with Johnson is he doesn't need to add that much velocity to be dominant because of his height. His release point is closer to the plate than normal pitchers, so it gets to hitters quicker. Thus, his fastball seems faster to hitters than it actually is. His 92 pmh fastball probably feels more like 95 to most hitters.

 

Now, what we really need is some pitchers in our bullpen that can hold leads. I am getting way frustrated watching our team score boatloads of runs and still lose. I'm sure our hitters are feeling the same way.

he is a pitcher that we gotta have in order to keep winning, hes been one of ur best if not the best pitcher on the staff this season. him and nolasco have thrown the ball well and for that u gotta give them the beneift of the doubt

Yeah, adding velocity at that age does happen. The thing with Johnson is he doesn't need to add that much velocity to be dominant because of his height. His release point is closer to the plate than normal pitchers, so it gets to hitters quicker. Thus, his fastball seems faster to hitters than it actually is. His 92 pmh fastball probably feels more like 95 to most hitters...

 

This has been exactly (and for those of you who have followed my rant on this subject for two seasons now, sorry for repeating myself) what I see as wrong with Randy Messenger.

 

The guy is as tall as a house (well, he's 6'6" vs Johnson being 6'7") and he's got a stride that's shorter than my pre-teen kid. I bet it's not 18 inches from the rubber. For the life of me I can't understand why the hell someone (of his coaches) in the minors didn't address this as he was developing and teach him to stride to the edge of the mound. I wish I could superimpose a picture of Johnson vs Messenger's strides, I would guess the difference would astound some here.

Everytime I see Johnson pitch I am impressed. His breaking pitches are some of the best on the staff. All he needs to do is build up stamina.

 

I agree with 2003, penciling in guys for the 2008 season is lunacy. Especially Volstad, players like him flame out all the time.

 

I wouldn't say lunacy :lol

 

It's all good folks. Can't tell you how many things i've said against the grain that ended up being true. I guess I will have to relegate myself to the fact that I'm always in the minority.

Yeah, adding velocity at that age does happen. The thing with Johnson is he doesn't need to add that much velocity to be dominant because of his height. His release point is closer to the plate than normal pitchers, so it gets to hitters quicker. Thus, his fastball seems faster to hitters than it actually is. His 92 pmh fastball probably feels more like 95 to most hitters...

 

This has been exactly (and for those of you who have followed my rant on this subject for two seasons now, sorry for repeating myself) what I see as wrong with Randy Messenger.

 

The guy is as tall as a house (well, he's 6'6" vs Johnson being 6'7") and he's got a stride that's shorter than my pre-teen kid. I bet it's not 18 inches from the rubber. For the life of me I can't understand why the hell someone (of his coaches) in the minors didn't address this as he was developing and teach him to stride to the edge of the mound. I wish I could superimpose a picture of Johnson vs Messenger's strides, I would guess the difference would astound some here.

 

Yeah, now that I think about it you're right. Maybe he loses even more control on his pitches when he throws more like JJ.

He's big, he's strong and he can throw strikes. Did I mention he's big and throws strikes? (hehe)

 

Why the heck you'd want to move him when he's just getting his feet wet is beyond me. There's nothing to be gained and so much to lose by doing so.

 

Johnson is here now. He is a major league starter, now. We are playing games now.

 

You're already penciling in Volstad, Sanchez, Petit and Nolasco as starters in 2008 when not one of them has thrown so much as one pitch as a major league starter. Who knows if they will succeed or not? Apply the same theory you have about Johnson to them (which is that he fails) where are we then? I hope they do succeed but in the interim you don't bite your nose to spite your face. Johnson is in the rotation now, he's needed there, now, it's lunacy to trade him when no alternative exists, unless maybe you want to see Nate Bump starting.

 

And this idea that Johnson value will never be higher than it is right now is in my mind, silly.

 

 

I agree with everything Marlins2003 wrote above. I will also add that JJ is only 22 years old and still has time for further development. So, if he is pitching this well now, why not give him time to continue his development in the bigs and become a dominating presence on the mound for the Marlins.