Updated Aug 19, 2009 - 9:10 pm

Joh's Plan For Snell

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Interesting conversation with Johjima after the game. I wanted to know his approach to handling Ian Snell, a guy who was struggling to make the adjustment from the National League to the American League.

The first thing that jumped out at me about Snell's outing was that he threw almost a 50/50 split of his fastball to secondary pitches as opposed to a much more fastball heavy approach his past two outings (his first outing which Rob Johnson caught was almost 50/50).

Joh said that the breaking pitches and changeup were important against a lineup like Detroit's and tonight the slider in particular was great. He liked that he threw them in the dirt and feels that his secondary pitches are strong enough to throw more and in different counts.

The fastball he said was good if it was kept down. To help keep Snell's focus down on all of his pitches Joh dropped to a one knee on the ground stance which he admitted made it a bit more difficult for him to block pitches. Despite this he felt it was important to keep his focus there so dropped to one knee as much as situations would allow.

This is a technique he has employed with RRS and Fister as well, just not to the extreme that he used tonight. Interestingly enough, the one knee on the ground is the traditional catchers stance in Japan he told me. He however grew up admiring American catchers so he looked forward to one day catching in the crouch here in the US.

A good night for Snell, a good night for Joh. And with that, good night! Have to be back to the ballpark early tomorrow.

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• SequimRealEstate wrote...

  Re: Jojama

  Well done as always. I really have been pulling for our better catcher to be in more games. Would love know what convoluted thinking got Johnson so much playing time.

  August 19, 2009 9:09 pm

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• Chris from Bothell wrote...

  personal catcher FTW!

  I would be perfectly happy if Joh settled into being Snell and Fister's catchers, to get him and his bat in the lineup more often (and a chance to redeem his reputation a bit amongst pitchers).

  August 19, 2009 10:29 pm

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• eleman09 wrote...

  SequimRealEstate...

  I believe we've been over why Johnson has been in there more. I don't think we need to go over it again. Having said that, I would have no problem having Johjima in there a bit more for the final month and a half if that's what helps us win. The last thing I'll say about the catching situation is that Johnson is a rookie. With more experience, some time in the batting cage and some help from Roger Hansen, he could improve quite a bit next year offensively and defensively.

  August 19, 2009 11:07 pm

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• Derrol_o wrote...

  What if Snell loses the strike zone?

  Sounds like Joh's got a clear cut plan in handling Snell. Hopefully it'll help Snell with his control issues. If it doesn't, Snell just falls behind in the count and is forced to throw the heater like his two previous starts at Safeco. When he gets in that situation with hitter after hitter, it can get ugly. When we first acquired Snell I was excited to see what he can do. His first start against Texas went well. Skipping over the two bad starts, he really looked good tonight against Detroit. I was a little disappointed he didn't finish the 6th but after the 4-pitch walk, Wak had no choice. Normally Wak would let a pitcher pitch through the adversity but the last two starts were probably too fresh in Wak's mind to allow Snell to pitch through it. I tend to get a bit down on Snell as I'm sure other M's fans do too when it all goes in the tank with him. On the other hand I pull for Snell probably more than most of the other starters because he seems to factor in as a key part of the rotation next year, maybe a #2.

  August 20, 2009 1:54 am

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• OneMoreVoice wrote...

  I'm not an expert or such, but

  it seems that if a pitcher is struggling as much as Snell has in the two games that I've seen him pitch. I think it is the managers and the catchers responsibility to take the control there and tell the pitcher that he will throw what the catcher tells him. I saw Snell shake pitches off that Kenji called and them throw a ball or a pitch that turned into a hit way to often in just two games. Yes, I'll give him some credit because he did throw some pretty good pitches too. But those seemed to be the ones that he didn't shake off. I've always known that catchers make it their business to know the batters and where their weaknesses are at the plate. As far as comparing Kenji and Johnson, I got the impression that Kenji was better all around, catching and batting. I do agree with the coach assigning certain catchers to certain pitchers because they do establish relationships in which they can work together. But, the opposing team can influence that decision somewhat with their line up, but it shouldn't be by very much at the MLB level.

  August 20, 2009 8:42 am

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• MrGenre wrote...

  Shaking off pitches

  I hear this occasionally, but an old coach once put it in perspective for a catcher on my team (in junior high... I was not quite good enough for high school ball, so don't think I'm a pro either). The coach told him to think of their relationship as if the pitcher was the machine. The catcher made the call, but it was the pitcher's job to let him know which pitch he felt he could throw best in any given situation. If the catcher calls a pitch that the pitcher can't throw near 100%, he needs to shake it off. Then it's the catcher's job to do the best with his machine depending on the count and the opponent's weaknesses or whatever. Maybe the pitcher doesn't like his curve when pitching from the stretch in the 4th inning. Maybe an outside slider is a better option. After all, the perfect pitch at 80% is often not as effective as the wrong pitch at 100%. Also, just like in real estate: location, location, location. Which is why Fister's been my main man since we brought him up. What control!

  August 20, 2009 9:32 am

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• Shawnuel wrote...

  RE:Johjima/Eleman09

  "The last thing I'll say about the catching situation is that Johnson is a rookie. With more experience, some time in the batting cage and some help from Roger Hansen, he could improve quite a bit next year offensively and defensively." Johnson got enough playing time last year that he lost rookie status. He is a second year player. As far as the statement about Hansen: Sure, he'll work the same magic he did with Ben Davis, Migel Olivo and Jeff Clement....Can't wait!

  August 28, 2009 7:21 am

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