Overall, Rob Johnson isn’t a great ballplayer right now.  He isn’t good with pitches in the dirt or throwing out runners and hasn’t yet shown the ability to hit with any consistency (or at all).

But the pitchers say they love him, so that’s something.  It would be good know if their rave reviews of the chemistry they have with Johnson are relative to how they sync up with Kenji Johjima, or if they feel like Johnson is legitimately one of their favorite catchers ever.  I would go with the former, but that’s just my gut.

There is no good way to figure out if Johnson is truly bringing out the best in the pitching staff.  Catcher’s ERA (CERA), for example, is a ridiculously flawed stat, and any catcher comparison based on pitching stats are skewed by a million different variables.  But I’m inclined to believe that there is something to the reports that pitchers are clicking with Johnson and that he’s bringing out a little more, but that brings up the question, is he bringing out enough to justify sitting Johjima, who is a better player in all things tangible?

If Johnson could start hitting a bit that would make things a lot easier.