"Catcher John Buck matter-of-factly said he didn't know the numbers, as if the only reason why was because he hadn't gotten around to loading Josh Johnson's Baseball-Reference.com page.

The numbers don't exist. If someone endeavors to measure how close pitchers are to the plate when they release the ball, Buck has no doubt the 6-foot-7 Johnson would rank at or near the top of that list.

"He's basically handing it to me in my glove," said Buck, revealing one reason why the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!' ace and Opening Day starter Friday against the Mets can boast one of the game's best fastballs.

Baseball history is punctuated with iconic pitches: Mariano Rivera's cutter, Bruce Sutter's split-finger, Hoyt Wilhelm's knuckler, Sandy Koufax's curve. Yet the foundation of the craft is the fastball. Ball or strike, a triple-digit radar gun reading never fails to reverberate throughout a ballpark.

Johnson didn't touch 100 miles per hour with his fastball last season. Among starters, Stephen Strasburg and Justin Verlander combined to do it 43 times according to Baseball Info Solutions (BIS). Whatever the jargon du jour — gas, heat, cheese — Johnson brings plenty of it."