Young Marlins Pitchers Battle For Starting Spots

[ThomasTomasz]

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- Rookie Josh Johnson smiled recalling his first taste of the big leagues.

He says the steak was great.

Johnson spent the final three weeks of last season with the Florida Marlins and made one start, pitching 5 1-3 innings in a victory over Atlanta. But for the 6-foot-7, 220-pound right-hander, the biggest kick was the way the team ate on trips.

"The food on the plane was like, holy cow, some of the best I've ever had," he said Tuesday. "Filet mignon -- I said, `I'll take that."'

Johnson has a shot at a steady diet of lean meat this season. He's among at least seven youngsters competing for two rotation spots as Florida rebuilds a pitching staff decimated by the team's payroll purge.

Those departing included the other Josh -- Beckett -- and A.J. Burnett, who combined to start 234 games for Florida. Two days into spring training, new manager Joe Girardi has barely begun to assess the potential replacements, but he likes the pool of young talent.

"You win with pitching, and there are some really great arms in this camp," said Girardi, a former catcher. "I can't wait until we get going in the games and see the progress they make."

Three rotation spots are expected to go to opening-day starter Dontrelle Willis (22-10 in 2005), left-hander Jason Vargas (5-5 as a rookie last year) and veteran Brian Moehler (6-12). Among those contending for the other spots are at least six rookies and 25-year-old Sergio Mitre, who went 2-5 for the Chicago Cubs last season in 21 games, including seven starts.

Rookie candidates include Anibal Sanchez and Yusmeiro Petit, 21; Johnson and Scott Olsen, 22; and Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto, 23. Petit and Olsen are left-handers.

Like Johnson, Olsen pitched briefly for Florida last season. The other prospective starters were acquired this winter in the Marlins' fire sale.

In exchange for Beckett, Luis Castillo, Carlos Delgado, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Lowell, Guillermo Mota and Ron Villone, the Marlins acquired 15 players. Eleven are pitchers, most of them hard-throwing youngsters.

"You can tell we've got some good arms, and you can never have too many," said Moehler, at 34 an elder statesman on the staff. "Look at the Braves, who always have good arms in the minor leagues. And it seems like every year, there's one guy they call up who does pretty well.

"Not everyone is going to pan out. But when you have good arms, that's a start, because you can't teach velocity. And most of these guys have velocity."

That makes the long-term outlook potentially bright, even if plenty of rocky outings are likely this season. With so many youngsters, the rotation may remain unsettled well after opening day.

"It's nice that there are more opportunities than on any other team," Johnson said. "If you don't win a job and happen to go to Double-A or Triple-A, you could still have a chance to come up early in the year."

Johnson went 12-4 at Double-A Carolina last year, then had a 3.65 ERA in four games after being called up to the majors.

"You want to get back up there again," he said. "You're hungry for it."

He sampled the beef and wants more.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

[Fishercat]

It's a good thing that young pitchers are battling, because if a veteran was battling and lost, he should be forced to retire.

As for he Marlins talent, still a few years from making a major impact. Anibal and Yusimero are nice prospects, but really, Anibal was the least developed of Boston's big three and Yusi has mixed reports.

Joe's going to have a long season...

[love_that_reefer]

This is going to be a extremely fun team to watch.