Like pitching, there’s no such thing as too much catching in baseball. The Seattle Mariners not only are filled with quality catching at their upper levels, there’s a backlog of it.
With Jeff Clement, Kenji Johjima and Jamie Burke already at the major league level, it has left Rob Johnson waiting with the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers.
And at Class AA West Tennessee, Adam Moore has made improvements offensively and defensively this season and is ready to move up.
Johnson, nearing the end of his fifth season since the Mariners drafted him in the fourth round in 2004, has shown as much patience as prowess this year.
He’s batting .308 with nine home runs, 43 runs batted in and a .368 on-base percentage with the Rainiers, and defensively seems major-league ready.
“He’s ready to be called up to the big leagues,” Hansen said. “In Rob’s mind, he’s ready to go and he’s just waiting.”
The problem is the logjam of catchers ahead of him which, barring some significant offseason changes, may not change before spring training begins in 2009. Clement is getting every opportunity the rest of this season to claim the Mariners’ No. 1 job but, if that doesn’t work out, Johjima is signed through 2010.
Hansen said Johnson is patient and happy to be playing every day at Tacoma compared with the time he shared there with Clement last year.
“Playing every day has really helped him, and he’s got no problems with things,” Hansen said. “He’s not worried about it and he just wants to stay consistent with what he’s doing.”
Moore, the Mariners’ sixth-round pick in 2006, also has improved this year in his first season at the Class AA level. He entered Tuesday batting .312 with 12 homers and 65 RBI for the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.
“Adam is maturing fast and he’s ready to go to the next level, too,” Hansen said. “Jeff, Rob and Adam — they’ve all come so far. You’ve just got to let them play.”
The Mariners plan to have Moore play for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.
It also will be a busy fall for Hansen, who’ll work with many of the Mariners’ lower-level catchers during the instructional league in Arizona. Among them will be Tommy Johnson, who’s batting .365 at short-season Class A Pulaski; Travis Howell, .299 for short-season Class A Everett; Emmanuel Familia, .230 at rookie-level Peoria; and Hassiel Jimenez, .287 for the Mariners’ team in the Dominican Summer League.
Elsewhere
Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers: The Rainiers early August hot streak has cooled, and they’ll need another big surge in the final 13 games to catch Salt Lake in the Pacific Coast League Pacific North Division. Entering Tuesday, the Rainiers were 68-61 and five games behind Salt Lake after having lost three straight.
Right-hander Brandon Morrow, being converted from reliever to starter, is 0-1 with a 2.93 earned run average in three starts with the Rainiers since being sent down by the Mariners. He threw 61 pitches in his last outing, Saturday at Sacramento, where he gave up three hits and two earned runs in 32/3 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.
Left fielder Jon Nelson was batting .328 and had a seven-game hitting streak in 16 games with the Rainiers after being promoted from Class AA West Tennessee.
Third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo has cooled at the plate, with two hits in his past 38 at-bats to leave his season average at .266. He had 12 homers and 67 RBI for the season.
Class AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx: First baseman Johan Limonta batted .343 in his previous 10 games, giving him a .307 season average with 10 homers and 53 RBI. Right fielder Mike Wilson, batting .281, had 25 homers and 74 RBI. Right-hander Shawn Kelly was 3-1, 1.43 with eight saves. The Diamond Jaxx entered Tuesday 24-31 and 101/2 games behind first-place Carolina in the Southern League North with 14 games remaining.
Class A High Desert Mavericks: DH Joe Davenport was batting .328 in 22 games with the Mavericks after playing with rookie-level Peoria and short-season A Everett early in the season. Second baseman Chris Minaker, of Edmonds-Woodway High School, had a .294 average with six homers and 55 RBI. The Mavericks are limping to the finish, going 1-9 entering Tuesday to leave them 21-36 and last in the California League South, 12 games behind first-place Rancho Cucamonga.
Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: Right-hander Phillippe Aumont gave up three hits and two earned runs in four innings Thursday in his second outing since spending two months on the disabled list. Aumont is 4-4, 2.79 in 14 games. The Rattlers were 19-30 and last in the Midwest League Western Division.
Short-season Class A Pulaski Mariners: It would take a major collapse for the Mariners to lose their lead in the Appalachian League East. They entered Tuesday 51/2 games ahead of Danville with nine games remaining.
First baseman Kris Sanchez had a .331 average with eight homers and 31 RBI, including three homers and 11 RBI in his previous 10 games. Right-hander Brooks Mohr was 5-4, 3.55 in 12 starts and left-hander Nick Czyz 6-4, 3.48 in 13 games (nine of them starts), including 3-0 in his past three starts.
Rookie-level Peoria Mariners: Right-hander Kenta Suza, who pitched early this season with the Everett AquaSox, is 2-2, 2.76 for the Mariners. With eight games remaining, Peoria is 9-10 and sixth in the Arizona League second-half standings, 51/2 games behind the first-place Scottsdale Giants.
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