Even after hitting .400 last spring, Mark Johnson still found himself ticketed for Triple-A Charlotte.
“I don’t know what else they want me to do,” he said upon his demotion.
In spite of limited spring playing time because of a hamstring strain, Johnson appears to have beaten out Josh Paul for the backup catching spot. Moreover, because of Sandy Alomar’s physical status, he is likely to be the White Sox’s Opening Day catcher.
Manager Jerry Manuel said Wednesday that Johnson probably will catch Mark Buehrle in the April 1 opener in Seattle.
“He may be a better matchup for [Freddy] Garcia than Alomar,” Manuel said. “He has been that impressive, hitting, calling games, throwing runners out . . . “
Johnson went 1-for-4 Wednesday against Milwaukee in an 11-8 loss, leaving him 8-for-21 (.381) this spring. Alomar is hitting .438 but has been slowed by hamstring problems and has only 16 at-bats. Alomar has yet to catch new Sox starter Todd Ritchie or play in back-to-back games.
“I’d like to watch him carefully down the stretch, see him play in back-to-back games,” Manuel said. “We have to take care of Sandy. He’s an older guy and has had a number of [knee] operations. We can’t expect or anticipate him to carry the bulk of the catching. We’ll monitor him from series to series, do all types of things to see if he’s fresh.”
The 35-year-old Alomar, in the final year of a two-year contract, will make $2.4 million this year. He could become trade bait in the final days of spring training as the Sox desperately seek pitching help, but he has played so little, scouts aren’t able to assess him.
Alomar spent the winter rehabbing in Chicago and says his knees are healthy enough for him to catch around 100 games this season. But the wear and tear on those knees over the years so worries Sox management he may wind up in a platoon situation with the left-handed-hitting Johnson.
After hitting .305 in the first month last year, Alomar hit .194 in May, .244 in June and .227 in July. A collision at the plate with the Cubs’ Gary Matthews Jr. on June 10 contributed to tendinitis in Alomar’s right knee, which eventually led to the ninth and 10th surgeries of his career.
While Manuel said Wednesday the Sox may carry three catchers, it appears for now, barring a trade, Paul is out of the picture. It’s much more likely the Sox will bring 12 pitchers north because so many of them are coming off arm injuries. If that happens, chances are the Sox’s bench will consist of Tony Graffanino, Jeff Liefer and either Aaron Rowand, Willie Harris or Brian Simmons. Joe Crede, the rookie third baseman hitting .413, won’t be on the team unless there’s an injury.
“I’d like to say he’s a major-league player,” Manuel said. “But he’s a young major-league player. You have to expect some inconsistencies. Can he play in the major leagues? Yes. I think he can, but this is not quite the stage for it yet.”
The Sox have stressed the importance of getting off to a good start, which means they can’t afford to make the same evaluation mistakes they did last spring when it comes to filling out the roster.
Julio Ramirez got the nod in the outfield over Liefer last spring, but was a bust offensively and was demoted after hitting .081 in 13 games. The slow offensive start doomed the Sox in April, putting them in a hole from which they never fully recovered.
