Mariners catcher Rob Johnson faces an arduous offseason of medical procedures, starting Friday with surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.You know who is going to like this?
Johnson also needs the same operation on his right hip, as well as left wrist surgery and possibly a fourth surgery, to remove a bone spur in his right elbow.
Sounds daunting, but according to the Mariners, doctors believe Johnson should be healthy at the start of spring training.
"I talked to Dr. Khalfayan [Mariners medical director Edward Khalfayan] and he said it's a lot, but it looks a lot worse than it is," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Tuesday. "He said all of these are manageable, and that Rob should be OK by spring training, unless they see something they're not expecting."
Johnson, in a phone interview late Tuesday afternoon, said he is excited at the prospect of a healthy season in 2010.
"That's the most encouraging thing," he said. "It's going to be awesome to be back and not have to stretch 45 minutes because of the pain."
Johnson, who evolved into the personal catcher for the Mariners' Cy Young candidate, Felix Hernandez, played in 80 games, hitting .213 with two home runs and 27 runs batted in. In September and October, Johnson hit only .115 (3 for 26) with one extra-base hit.
That's who is going to like this.
Also, you may be a little shocked by this headline...well, no...you'll not be shocked...
Mariners think Phillippe Aumont has makeup of great reliever
Imposing relief pitcher Phillippe Aumont wants to clear some things up before he embarks on trying to make it to the majors with the Mariners next season.
First off, while his hip has been problematic since his amateur days in Canada, it is not a degenerative condition as had been rumored, and is not behind a surprising decision to move the former No. 1 draft pick to the bullpen. Secondly, yes, he does indeed regret the behavior that led to him breaking his non-pitching hand by pounding a locker after he'd allowed three runs in the ninth inning of a Class AA loss in August.
The latter incident, which left the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Aumont sidelined for the final three weeks of his season, could delay his fast-tracking to the big leagues. The Mariners want to see how Aumont's shortage of innings impacts his mound performance and will get their first glimpse today when the 20-year-old is expected to make his Arizona Fall League debut for the Peoria Javelinas.
"I lost my mind," Aumont said Tuesday of the locker incident, as his Javelinas were thrashed, 17-4, by the visiting Surprise Rafters. "I lost it completely. I barely remember anything because I just completely lost it. When something gets you real bad and you have a hard time controlling yourself, that's what happened. I just started hitting my locker. I didn't feel it at the time. Adrenaline was just pumping."
The next day, his hand was so sore he couldn't play catch and he had to sheepishly admit to the team's trainer what had happened.
Matt Toth must have been so happy to be on the receiving end of that conversation.
Go read it all.
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