The Seattle Mariners signed Japanese catcher Kenji Johjima prior to the 2006 season for one reason: stability.

The 2005 Mariners catching carousel featured seven different backstops, and the results were appalling. Along with stability, Johjima ended up bringing above average offense and defense, and was the second most durable catcher in the league. Kenji’s solid debut had him tops among position players in the Rookie of the Year voting, and nowadays his name is always mentioned as a top five catcher in the major leagues.

2007 rolled around and catcher was no longer a position of concern for Seattle. This time we all knew what we could expect from Joh: line drives all over the field, great power against righthanders and solid defense. The only speculation concerning Kenji was how much he could improve upon his rookie campaign. Johjima showed he was capable of hitting 30+ homers and 100+ RBIs in Japan, and Mariner fans were wondering if he could close the gap a little. Going into 2007 it didn’t seem unreasonable for him to knock 20-25 out, driving in 80-90.

Kenji started hot, hitting .316 through the first two months of the season. Batting mostly from the 7-hole, Joh was able to help drive in the big boys to the tune of 19 RBIs during the month of May. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep the pace, and his three solid months (April, May, August: .336 10 HR 38 RBI in 240 AB) were brought down by three bad ones (June, July, September: .239 4 HR 23 RBI in 243 AB). Johjima’s final line ended up being a touch lower than his 2006 debut, but the Mariners will take it.

Maybe he lacked a little on the offensive side, but he made up for it on defense. Joh has always been a plus defender, winning seven gold gloves in Japan, but there was concern surrounding his ability to catch basestealers. He only managed to throwout 34% in 2006. During the spring there was a lot of talk that the coaching staff was working hard to improve his technique. Improved footwork and a quicker release certainly helped, as Johjima ended gunning down a whopping 46%, which led the league. Several experts felt Johjima was snubbed during the recent handing out of 2007 gold gloves.

The black mark on Joh’s 2007 season has nothing to do with any of his own numbers. The Seattle Mariners employed one of the worst starting pitching staffs in baseball, sporting a 5.16 ERA. You can’t always blame the catcher, especially when the staff includes the linkes of Horacio Ramirez and Jeff Weaver. But it does bring up a communication issue. Kenji took extensive English and Spanish lessons to prepare for the job, but anyone who has even dabbled in a second language knows it can be difficult to get a point across. Baseball people tend to downplay the significance of the language barrier, saying that the game is universal. In watching Seattle play, however, it seemed that pitchers had trouble bouncing back after giving up walks, homeruns, or consecutive hits. You can only say “keep the ball down” so many times, and I am concerned that Johjima is having trouble calming his pitchers down.

Going into 2008 I would expect another solid season from Kenji Johjima, both offensively and defensively. Perhaps this is the year he can crack the 20 home run mark. Joh is entering a contract year, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he ups his level of play. Either way, you can at least expect him to flirt with .300, hit 15+ homers and put the ball in play. Look for the coaching staff to try and get him to work the count more, as his number one weakness continues to be his lack of walks.

Another intriguing issue going into 2008 is the prospect of having Hiroki Kuroda pitching to Johjima. Kuroda is a free agent as of now, but the Mariners are said to be the clear-cut favorite. There has never been a Japanese pitcher/catcher tandem in the MLB, and it would be interesting to watch that unfold. There has been a lot of speculation that a Japanese arm  might pitch closer to his NPB numbers with the help of a Japanese catcher with MLB experience. The hope would be  that Johjima  could help Kuroda actually earn the millions of dollars the Mariners would have to overspend on him.

Jon Shields writes the blog Bleeding Blue and Teal. He lives outside Seattle and can be contacted at bleedingblueandteal@gmail.com.