Randy Johnson's Happy He Didn't Kill Anybody

While throwing two innings of a "B" game against a group of Chicago White Sox in his first game of the Spring on Saturday. And why shouldn't he be -- he has plenty of experience murdering living beings while pitching in spring training. As for the game, the Unit retired six of the seven batters he faced, striking out three, yielding only an opposite field double. Reports say Randy showed shades of his former dominant self, but the dude only topped out at 94 on the gun -- which is how hard his slider used to be. No matter, because the Unit is ever-the-optimist

"I'm ahead of schedule, as far as, I mean, I didn't kill anybody, I didn't walk a boatload of batters," Johnson said. "So it was a pleasant surprise. I'm ahead of schedule as far as I don't feel I have to make up a lot of ground in order to get to where I need to be. It's nice to know that's where I'm at right now, that's where I can be, and I mean to build off that. If I went out there and didn't pitch well, then I would realize I had a lot of work to do."

Manager Bob Melvin seemed pleased with the outing as well. Johnson is ready to go on a five-day rotation schedule, meaning he should pitch Thursday against the Padres. Randy will continue to build up his innings and stamina and prepare for a likely mid-to-late April return. But if there's anything to take away from the outing, we should all be happy that Johnson threw 32 pitches without anything dying (that I know of).

Previously at FanHouse:
Randy Johnson Projected to Return Mid-to-Late April
Randy Johnson Will Start the Season on the DL
Randy Johnson Might Not Appear in a Cactus League Game
Like the Playoffs Against Detroit, Randy Johnson Throws BP
Randy Johnson Is Working His Way Back