Hometown Lowdown: Jon Shields Touts the Stability of K. Joh

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. ...continued after the jump! Enjoy!