January 22
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The mound is no mound at all yet. A construction site hieroglyph in florescent spray paint demarcates the point from where it ultimately will rise. It was at that spot Thursday amid bushels of lumber and piles of rebar that Josh Johnson threw a first pitch of sorts at the Florida Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!' new Little Havana ballpark. The baseball he lobbed at agent Matt Sosnick commemorated the four-year, $39 million contract Johnson signed at a news conference moments earlier. The Marlins formally announced the deal, which probably doesn't happen if owner Jeffrey Loria doesn't hop on his white horse and disregard the front office's advice. The sticking point early in the ..."
January 15
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Ethan Sklonick
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Faith isn't earned overnight. Still, the Florida Marlins took a positive step with their competitive four year, $39 million contract signing of ace Josh Johnson. Were they pushed by the recent joint letter from Major League Baseball and the players union, essentially warning them to stop pocketing all that revenue sharing loot? Perhaps. But I don't care. And I don't worry about the fact that richer teams may still see Johnson as an attractive trade target at this price. The Marlins needed to start showing their fan base that they were serious, and they needed to do so before they moved into the new stadium that required significant public funding. That's why I took exception to David ..."
November 22
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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As far as agent Matt Sosnick is concerned, the Marlins can add Josh Johnson to their list of burgeoning young talents they could not afford to keep long term. Discussions this week between the Marlins and Sosnick on a multi-year contract for the club's No. 1 starter and one of the premier young arms in the game went no where. Johnson wanted four guaranteed years. The Marlins would not budge off three with an option. Sosnick warned the Marlins if they didn't sign his client this offseason, Johnson would elect free agency when eligible after 2011. "No one's getting any kind of a discount now," said Sosnick, who also represents Ricky Nolasco. "This was the last chance for a team to get a ..."
September 28
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Josh Johnson joined first baseman Nick Johnson in quarantine Sunday. Like Nick Johnson, Josh developed flu-like symptoms that worsened to the point where the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! scratched him from his scheduled start against the Mets. The Marlins sent home Johnson, who did not travel on team's charter flight to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. Both Johnsons will head up separate from the team. "A little bit [Saturday], but he came in running a pretty good fever," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "You know him. You ask him and 'I'm good, I'm good.' We gave him an hour and he wasn't looking good." The Marlins alerted Chris Volstad to be on standby and told him he would start about ..."
September 27
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Turns out there's a mitigating factor in Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! first baseman Nick Johnson's current 0-for-21 skid. Johnson is battling flu-like symptoms and his condition deteriorated to the point where he was sent home Saturday for precautionary reasons. Johnson started the series opener and went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run, but he did not take batting practice Friday or Saturday. The Marlins would only say he is under the care of the team physician. They would not confirm whether swine flu has been ruled out. Johnson is not believed to have undergone tests yet to determine whether he has contracted the highly contagious respiratory disease. Part of the reason he was ..."
September 23
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! ace Josh Johnson may not have accomplished his immediate goal Tuesday in taking a 9-3 loss to the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader, but he inched closer to one of his long-term objectives: to throw 200 innings. Johnson allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings, but has reached a career-high 199 1/3 innings pitched, just 25 months after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery. "It is, but if I don't get there, I'm not worried," said Johnson (15-5), who still has at least two more starts to become the first Marlins pitcher to win 16 games since Dontrelle Willis won 22 in 2005. "We'll get there eventually. That was one of my goals coming ..."
August 15
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The best indication of how well things were going for Josh Johnson on Friday came between innings in the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!' dugout. "There was nobody coming within 15 feet of me," Johnson said. Johnson (12-2) was one strike away from taking a no-hitter into the eighth before Garrett Atkins spoiled the show with a solo homer. Johnson and the Marlins settled for a 6-5 win at Land Shark Stadium that brought them within two games of the National League wild-card leading Rockies. The Atkins homer was the lone hit Johnson allowed during an overpowering 7 1/3-inning, 114-pitch performance in which Johnson struck out a career-high 11. The Marlins staved off a ninth-inning ..."
August 15
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The best indication of how well things were going for Josh Johnson Friday came between innings in the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! dugout. "There was nobody coming within 15 feet of me," Johnson said. Johnson (12-2) was one strike away from taking a no-hitter into the eighth before Garrett Atkins spoiled the show with a solo homer. Johnson and the Marlins settled for a 6-5 win that brought them within two games of the National League wild card leading Rockies. The Atkins homer was the lone hit Johnson allowed during an overpowering 7 1/3-inning, 114-pitch performance in which Johnson struck out a career-high 11. The Marlins staved off a ninth-inning Rockies rally that saw Leo ..."
July 30
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Just like the last time, it was a three-run home run to center field. Just like the last time, it came in the fourth inning and busted open a close game. And just like last time, the shy and reluctant Josh Johnson emerged out of the dugout for a curtain call. The right-hander was his regular steady self on the mound Wednesday, but his clutch two-out hit off counterpart Kenshin Kawakami was the highlight of his night as it propelled the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! to a 6-3 win against the Braves at Land Shark Stadium. "I thought it was gone when I hit it, but I kept running just in case," said Johnson, who allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings. "It's fun. It's fun to be ..."
July 18
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Starter Josh Johnson makes his first start of the second half tonight on pace for 229 innings — just 43 1/3 fewer than he had pitched in the majors before this season. Though Johnson has not completed a full season since 2006, pitching coach Mark Wiley said the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! don't plan to cap his innings. They will monitor him like they do the rest of their young starters for signs of fatigue or any other red flags. "It's something we'll pay attention to because of the kind of arms we have," Wiley said. "Having said that, if we're in the playoff hunt going down to the last month, we probably aren't going to skip anybody. They're going to have to post up. That's all ..."
July 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The last time Josh Johnson pitched in an All-Star game was 2005. He struck out the side in his lone inning and got the win as the North beat South in the Double-A Southern League. If not for a three-hit, four-RBI performance from Jeremy Hermida, Johnson probably takes home the MVP trophy. Johnson is back among baseball's best, this time on a much grander stage. For the eighth time in nine years, the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! will have multiple representatives at the All-Star Game. In addition to Hanley Ramirez, who will start at shortstop for the second consecutive season, Johnson will join him on the National League squad. Ramirez becomes the first NL shortstop to start ..."
June 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Josh Johnson entered the weekend on several National League leaderboards: ERA (2.63), innings pitched (82), strikeouts (72), opponents' batting average (.223). One category in which the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! don't want to see him climb any higher is pitches per start. Johnson began the day ninth in the NL at 103.83. Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley is leading the league at 110.25, followed by Tim Lincecum (107.55), who the Marlins will face Sunday, and Barry Zito (107.30), who started Friday's series opener. Johnson has topped the 110-pitch mark three times in 12 starts, maxing out at 114 in seven innings against the Rays on May 24. "He doesn't pitch away from contact, ..."
June 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The last time the Brewers saw Josh Johnson, he was a shadow of his usual overpowering self. Johnson only lasted four innings, suffering from fatigue attributed to having last pitched at Coors Field, where the altitude makes pitchers work much harder and catches up with them in their next start. On Thursday, Milwaukee got a look at a rested Johnson at sea level at Land Shark Stadium, and the difference was dramatic, as Johnson nearly single-handedly led the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! to a 4-3 win. "A tremendous outing. You couldn't ask for anything more than what he did today," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. Johnson blew his mid-90s fastball by hitters, and then blew the game open ..."