SAN FRANCISCO — Randy Johnson will take his time
deciding whether to pitch next year.
The 303-game winner said Thursday there's no rush and
said health and his ability to start again could play a role. The Big Unit, who
turned 46 last month, has been relegated to relief late this season for the San
Francisco Giants following two-plus months on the disabled list with a shoulder
injury.
"There's no real sense of urgency," Johnson said. "I'm
going to go home and do what everybody else does."
Johnson, who has 4,873 strikeouts, is 8-6 with a 4.93 ERA
in 17 starts and four relief outings – and he hoped to pitch one more time
before the season ends. Johnson got his wish in front of the home fans in the
ninth inning of Thursday's 7-3 victory over his former club, Arizona.
Johnson allowed a leadoff single to Mark Reynolds, then
got a double play before Chad Tracy's game-ending groundout.
On June 4 at Washington, the 6-foot-10 left-hander became
the 24th player in major league history with 300 wins.
He joined the Giants in his native Bay Area this season
to try to help the team reach the playoffs, but San Francisco will miss the
postseason for the sixth straight year after making a run at the NL wild card
before recently falling out of contention.
Johnson spent July 6-Sept. 16 on the disabled list with a
strained left shoulder that also had a tear in the rotator cuff. As he was
working his way back, the five-time Cy Young Award winner acknowledged that
pitching more than five innings and being effective as a starter would be tough
at this stage.
He came out of a game July 5 against the Houston Astros
with the injury, his first serious shoulder problem during his career. He felt
something in his arm on a swing during that start but initially tried to pitch
through it. He then left the game after committing a throwing error in the top
of the fourth.
This marked the 10th DL stint of Johnson's career. He
has had four knee operations and three back surgeries and worked his way back.
Johnson has repeatedly acknowledged this could be his
final season and said he'll make his decision known – probably in Arizona. He
lives in the Phoenix area after spending eight of his previous 10 seasons with
the Diamondbacks, interrupted by a rocky two-year stint with the New York
Yankees in 2005 and '06.
"You'll read about it," he said.