From Mariners Camp

From AJ Moss at ESPN.com

How will the loss of Kenji Johjima impact the Seattle Mariners' staff?

There is a table in there that shows the difference in Seattle's ERA with Johjima catching and Rob Johnson ('05) catching. Very favorable numbers for Johnson.

To the meat of the article:

Was Rob Johnson really that big a difference? Apparently so. In addition to King Felix posting a 15-2 record with the 25-year-old calling the shots behind the plate, Johnson's handling of the entire Seattle staff was nothing short of masterful. His 3.22 "catcher's ERA" was the best in all of the major leagues, but more telling was Seattle's 46-29 record in games started by Johnson, compared with a 28-39 record with Johjima.

Clearly, the comfort level between the staff and Johnson cannot easily be dismissed, but despite the past success, the catcher may not be starting on a regular basis for Seattle in 2010. Johnson had surgery on both of his hips in the offseason, and is only now getting ready to see live game action this spring.

Johnson is confident that his "new hips" will allow him to improve his ability to throw out baserunners -- his 29.3 percent paled in comparison with Johjima's 50 percent of would-be thieves removed from the basepaths -- as well as his production with the bat. Johnson hit just .213 last season, but has told reporters this spring he believes his 2010 batting average will end up somewhere between .265 and .290.

However, there still is a lot of concern that Johnson simply won't be able to handle the rigors of catching four or more times a week, at least not right away. That's where Adam Moore comes in. Moore has been so impressive since being taken in the sixth round of the 2006 draft, that Seattle had no problem trading away "catcher of the future" Jeff Clement, and giving that title to the rookie, who started 2009 at Double-A and ended up playing six September games with Seattle.

Click through to read it all.

Now, if you saw the alumni report to day, you may have noticed that Shawn Kelley got the start in one of the split squad games. Kirby Arnold explains.

The Mariners used Kelley mostly an inning at a time out of the bullpen last year, but this month they’ve increased his workload in order to use him more in middle relief. Manager Don Wakamatsu said the team talked during the offseason about prepping Kelley as a starter — something he did in college — but abandoned that thought.

When the pitching pairings for today came out, though, it rekindled speculation that the Mariners, who are considering multiple options for the end of the rotation, may have turned back to Kelley.

Uh, no.

The Mariners have no plans to convert Kelley into a starter. With Doug Fister still not ready for games after he was hit by a line drive last week, the Mariners decided to use today’s game against the Royals to build up their relievers.

And I can seem to find the image online, but Felix Hernandez ('03) is on the cover of the latest ESPN: The Magazine with Cliff Lee and Ichiro.

From the class of '06

Ex-Rattler Adam Moore ('06) has been having an impressive spring training with the Mariners.

Mariners catcher Adam Moore grew up right in the shadows of Friday Night Lights in Mineola, Texas, a town of 5,000 or so about a 90-minute drive from Dallas.

"The expectations for a high-school player in football there were very high," he says.

Baseball? Not so much.

But though he emerged as the quarterback of the high-school team in a football-crazy area, his heart was always on the diamond.

"I just knew baseball was where it was at for me," he said.

That belief was validated as Moore swiftly rose through the Mariners' farm system. Moore could finally reach the top rung in a few weeks by making the opening-day roster.

After a 6-2 spring-training win over the Giants here Thursday, Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu pointed to Moore as the player of the day. In his fifth game of the spring, Moore again showed patience at the plate and an improved presence behind it. He seems to be far more mature than the six games of major-league experience he received last September.

Moore impresses and other news

Adam Moore ('06) is having a very nice spring. He has caught the attention of M's manager Don Wakamatsu.

Adam Moore had a double and is hitting .583, and Wakamatsu later praised his development as a catcher. "He's made some adjustments over this past week that we really think we are heading in the right direction,'' he said. "He's got a chance to be a special player. He can swing the bat. Had a nice double today. But I see a comfort level, and we saw a lot last year at the end of the year --- six games, a short look, but hoping to accomplish a lot and expediate that learning process --- with him to where he feels good and we think we are going down that road. We still need to work on some things throwing wise, quicken him up a little bit, but as far handling the pitching staff and his receiving skills, blocking, real happy with that.''

Elsewhere in news involving the former parent club...

The Mariners trimmed their roster to 55 this morning, sending one player to Tacoma and the rest to the minor league camp.

Those cut are: pitchers Ryan Feierabend, Josh Fields, Steven Shell, Nick Hill, Chris Seddon and Mauricio Robles and catchers Luis Oliveros and Steven Baron.

Feierabend is coming off Tommy John surgery and needs more time to get back. He will be assigned to Tacoma, which has to happen since he was a member of the 40-man roster.

The rest are young players who weren't expected to legitimiately compete for a spot on the Major League roster this year.

Manager Don Wakamatsu said Feierabend had pitched as well as anybody so far in the spring and appeared further along in his recovery than he had expected, especially with the feel of his pitches.

But he said the team wants to better control when and how he pitches and that having him in the minor league camp will make that easier to do.

"We want to let him work more at a slower pace so he's available more toward the end of the year,'' Wakamatsu said.

Feierabend ('04) and Oliveros ('04) are the former Timber Rattlers in that group.

Prospects, prospects, prospects

Baseball America has unveiled their Top 100 Prospects list for the 2010 season.

Former Timber Rattlers on the list:

30. Michael Saunders ('06)

59. Brett Lawrie ('09)

83. Adam Moore ('06)

93. Phillippe Aumont ('08)

Adam Moore made a little history

The other day, Adam Moore ('06) made his Major League debut against the Chicago White Sox. He would catch all 14 innings in Seattle's win.

"I was joking with Rob [Johnson] on the bench and told him I was feeling exhausted in about the fifth inning," said Moore, often touted as the team's catcher of the future. "Because finally, all of it [the jitters] started coming out of me."

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu was impressed with how Moore handled the pressure of his major-league debut. He mentioned Moore's ability to "catch the baseball" and deal with movement of pitches by hurlers he wasn't all that familiar with, something that becomes critical in an extra-inning contest where any mistake can prove lethal.

"The story for me is 8-1/3 shutout by the bullpen," Wakamatsu said. "Thank God it's September and we have some arms down there, but they did a phenomenal job."

As did the newbie catcher who, for nearly two full ballgames, looked like he belonged out there.

Jim Street had a blog post about this, but it is no longer on his blog. But, it is available here at facebook.

The research has been completed and, sure enough, the 14 innings Adam Moore caught in his Major League debut Thursday afternoon (and evening) against the White Sox at Safeco Field were the most innings caught in a catcher's debut in more than 50 years.

I suspected as much, having been in this business for at least half-a-century (seems like more now that blogging and tweeting have taken over from such things as actually WATCHING a game), and, according to Stats Inc. (I don't think they existed way back when) and Baseball-Reference.com determined that the 14 innings were the most for a debut catcing dude since 1954.

The previous high was 12 innings by Jackie Moore of the Tigers in 1965, Danny Breeden with the Reds in '69, Ramon Hernandez of the Athletics in '99 and Wyatt Toregas with the Indians earlier this season.

Want some Moore?

See what I did there? Of course you did.

The Tacoma News Tribune has this on Adam Moore ('06) for his first day with the Mariners.

Not even rain can rain on Moore’s parade

Mariners: Catcher called up from Tacoma just in time to watch it rain for several hours

Adam Moore flew all morning to put on a big-league uniform for the first time Sunday – and watch it rain all day as he waited for the weather-delayed doubleheader between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

“I played in college about 10 miles from here,” Moore said. “I even had a couple of old buddies call and ask for tickets.”

If he’d given them tickets, they’d have been among, oh, 500 people who showed up at the ballpark to watch a tarp stay on the infield and rain fall for hour after hour.

Originally scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. PDT, the first game was eventually started a 3 p.m.

Not that any of that bothered Moore.

At 25, he is considered the best catching prospect in the Seattle farm system, the Tacoma Rainiers Player of the Year and a hitter with a career .301 batting average over four minor league seasons.

“I’m ready,” Moore said. “I’ve talked to (manager) Don Wakamatsu, and I’ll get a game in here and there over the next few weeks. My job is to show them what I can do.”

“Adam had a good year and we’d love to get a look at him up here, but if I had to guess I’d say he’d probably start two games,” Wakamatsu said.

This is from the Tyler, Texas Newspaper

Mineola's Moore Called Up By Mariners

The Seattle Mariners catcher of the future is with the team now.

Adam Moore, a former Mineola High School standout, got the call up from the big club after the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers were eliminated by Sacramento in the playoffs Saturday.

The 25-year-old hopped on a plane and joined the Mariners on rainy Sunday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Moore told the Seattle media Sunday, "This is so exciting," he said. "It's a dream come true.

"I got a little sleep on the flight (from Sacramento, Calif., to DFW), but I kept waking up with butterflies, knowing that I was coming back to Arlington, where I grew up watching games. Walking into this clubhouse, knowing that I am wearing a big league uniform now is really something."

Moore is considered one of the gems in the Mariners' farm system and has been rewarded with time in the Big Leagues.

Get it? Moore?

If you had Adam Moore...

...in the "Which Rattlers alumnae will be the next one called to the bigs?" pool. Please collect your winnings....Oh, wait...That's me! WHOOO! I was right!

Adam Moore: "Leading the team" was biggest thing learned in Class AAA this year

Adam Moore arrived here just over an hour ago, had a lengthy meeting with manager Don Wakamatsu in his office and spoke with reporters soon after. Moore said his "heart was pounding'' when he got the news of his call-up last night after Class AAA Tacoma was eliminated in Sacramento.

The Mariners put Moore on an early flight out here. There weren't enough seats on the plane for all three callups, so Matt Tuiasosopo and Garrett Olson were to come later, though they now might just fly directly to Seattle and join the team there. It's still pouring here and I doubt we're going to see baseball today.

I asked Moore what the biggest thing he'd learned catching-wise was in AAA this year. Amd he didn't hesitate in his answer.

"Leading the team, first and foremost,'' he said. "Going out there with a positive attitude and finding the strengths of every pitcher, what they have that day and just leading them to the best of their ability to go out there and get a win for us.''

Moore said he did a lot more of that this year, "actually putting thoughts in the back of my mind, what i need to do, what I need to get done in certain situations with certain pitchers on the mound. Looking at the guy on deck, who we've got warming up in the bullpen at certain times. Just leading them through all the key situations that may occur when they get in.''

Congratulations to Moore ('06).