Felix Hernandez has started 128 big league baseball games.
Doug Fister has started two.
Other than the fact that they are Mariners and right-handed, they have one thing that separates them from other members of the Seattle starting rotation.
They both have a personal catcher.
Hernandez’s is Rob Johnson. Fister’s is Kenji Johjima.
It may seem odd that a rookie with just 14 innings to his credit would have a catcher of his own, but that’s the way it works these days as manager Don Wakamatsu tries to put the pieces of a winning team together.
“That’s about the way it is,” Wakamatsu said after Fister and Johjima teamed up for the second time Sunday and Fister gave the Mariners a second straight impressive start.
With the Yankees having won 12 of their previous 13 games, Fister threw his fastball and changeup with equal skill in allowing just three runs in seven innings. He has thrown 14 innings to start his big league career, and those are the only runs he’s allowed.
And for both of his starts, Johjima has been the catcher. Wakamatsu isn’t above playing a hot combination, particularly after Johjima doubled and homered Sunday.
“We have to go with guys who are making it work for us,” Wakamatsu said after Seattle’s 61st win, matching the win total from 2008. “There’s plenty of work for both Joh and Rob, but the way Joh and Fister have looked together in Fister’s first two starts, you’ll see Joh catching him.
“Rob has done a phenomenal job, particularly with Felix. But we’re going with a lot of young pitchers, and we’re going to need all the catching we can get. That’s why I never wanted to say that Rob was the No. 1 catcher. Things can change.”
For most of the past six weeks, Johnson has done the bulk of the catching. That included always catching Jarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard. But Washburn has been traded and Bedard is out for the year after shoulder surgery, so the catching competition is wide open again.
Equally significant for the Mariners is the fact that Fister has come from almost literally nowhere to joust for a job in the rotation. He was not with the big league club in spring training, and he wasn’t on the depth chart when Wakamatsu was hired.
“When I got here, he wasn’t on the radar,” Wakamatsu said. “But the reports all year have been positive. They talk about his command and his efficiency with his pitches.”
Fister allowed the White Sox just one hit in six innings in his first start, but he walked four, which wasn’t how he had performed in the minor leagues. Sunday was more his speed, giving up eight hits but no walks. Fister has a slider, but he mostly didn’t show it Sunday with Johjima mixing in fastballs and changeups. Fister throws them with the same motion, making it tricky for the batter to pick up what’s coming.
“He’s got a very good changeup,” Johjima said. “It tails a little, and I called for a lot of changeups against right-handed batters. He has a lot of confidence in that pitch, and it shows.”
Fister has plenty of confidence in Johjima as well. Johjima caught Fister once on an injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma, and the two seemed to click right away.
“Joh and I were on the same page again today,” Fister said after his first big league victory. “I just threw what he called.”
In addition to the deceptive practice of his changeup, Fister, who is 6-foot-8, has the tall guy’s advantage. He releases the ball higher off the ground than most pitchers, and as a result, it dives more in the final five feet before reaching the glove.
“He has a feel for pitching, and the ball really dives for him,” Wakamatsu said. “He’s come in and given us a big lift.”
