A potential Boston Red Sox closer of the future has been a catcher for the vast majority of his organized baseball career.

Even as late as his junior year in high school, the idea of throwing from the mound rather than throwing balls back to it never really occurred to Mike James.

“Ever since I was 7, I’ve been a catcher. I did pitch [as a starter] one year in high school,” said the 26-year-old James. “When college came around, I was recruited as a catcher and a pitcher.

“They knew I could pitch through John Ihlenburt, my summer ball coach in Georgia. I guess they liked what they heard because I think they recruited me with the mindset of having me eventually pitch.”

“Eventually” came a lot sooner than either the Roswell, Ga., native or his coaches expected. James caught four games as a University of Connecticut freshman before an injury to the team’s closer forced him into that role.

The Huskies never had to try anyone else as James excelled as their closer, establishing a school record for saves in a season with nine (2003) and in a career with 22. That career mark would have been higher, had another injury emergency his senior season not forced him to go from the bullpen to the starting rotation. The switch didn’t seem to hurt him, however, as he led the team with 90 1/3 innings and was second with 54 strikeouts.

Later that summer, James got a call from the Red Sox informing him he was Boston’s 27th pick. He was drafted in the 28th round (845th pick overall) of the 2004 amateur draft.

Today, he’s the top reliever in Boston’s minor league system with 17 saves and a 2.98 ERA for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. He is 0-3 with 33 hits, 27 walks, and 43 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.

His fifth minor league season is quite a contrast to his first.

“I had a pretty rough year in Lowell,” James admitted.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound righthander was 0-4 with one save and a 10.90 ERA his first year with the short-season Single-A Lowell Spinners. He allowed 53 hits and 17 walks with 34 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.

“My senior year, when I started, I changed my mechanics a little bit and wasn’t throwing as hard,” James said. “I lost that live fastball I had, I was becoming too picky, and my arm was a little tired at the end of the season. By the time I got to Lowell, my arm was dead.”

So that fall, James, who’d earned a natural resource management and engineering degree, took a long break. He didn’t even pick up a ball for two months and rested up.

The following year, he attended his first spring training in Florida. Despite throwing a few scoreless innings in big league camp, James was ticketed for extended spring training before fate handed him an opportunity.

“Extended spring training was three hours for me. Someone got hit by a pitch and they sent me to Greenville instead.”

James rebounded strongly from 2004 by going 1-1 with 11 saves and a 3.77 ERA in 43 innings with the Single-A Drive of South Carolina. After striking out 38 batters in 43 innings, he was sent to single-A Wilmington (Del.), where he went 0-1 with three saves and a 3.06 ERA. He punched out 12 batters in 17 2/3 innings.

If 2005 was a rebound season, 2006 was a breakout season as James thrived in the closer’s role at Wilmington with a 2-1 record and a Boston minor league organization-high 25 saves with a 1.81 ERA. He allowed 42 hits and 19 walks while getting 51 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings.

James paused when asked what makes him so well-suited to be a closer.

“I don’t know. The one thing I always hear from other people and coaches is if you’re going to do this, you have to have a short memory, and I do,” he said. “Knowing you’re the guy who gets the ball when the game’s on the line… It makes me feel good to know that all those guys are counting on me.

“It’s great that they expect me to get the job done because they have confidence in me.”

With a solid 91-to-92 mile-per-hour fastball, an above-average changeup and a slider he’s perfecting, James’ future is bright with Boston. Not bad for a former backstopper.

“I think that actually helps a little bit, having been a catcher, because you start to understand calling pitches better, having seen it from both sides,” he said. “It definitely didn’t hurt.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net