JUPITER -- Ozzie Guillen liked what he saw of Josh Johnson on Wednesday when the ace of the Marlins stepped up on a bullpen mound and threw his 35-pitch allotment.

But Guillen said more important than how Johnson looked on Wednesday is how the pitcher’s right arm and shoulder feels after he wakes up on Thursday.

“I only care about J.J. after he pitches, how he’s going to feel [Thursday],’’ Guillen said after Marlins pitchers and catchers completed their first workout of spring training. “We have to track every day how he feels – not to babysit him, but to make sure how he feels the next day.”

There’s good reason for that level of interest.

For all the changes the Marlins have made, from building a new ballpark to spending millions on new players, most agree that the key to their season is the oft-injured Johnson and, specifically, whether he remains healthy throughout.

“He’s basically the man, he’s it,” said first baseman Gaby Sanchez. “Last year we saw it. You can’t replace a J.J.”

Noted lefty relief specialist Randy Choate: After Johnson made his final start on May 16, “the snowball started rolling. It kept getting bigger and bigger, and there was nobody to stop it.”

The Marlins plummeted from a 24-16 record with Johnson in the rotation to a last-place finish without him. Since 2006, the Marlins have gone 281-260 when Johnson has been in their rotation and 184-246 when he’s been absent due to injury.

Johnson, who will make $13.75 million this coming season in what will be the third year of a four-year contract, said 2011 was frustrating, to say the least. He flirted with no-hitters in three of his nine starts before landing on the shelf with shoulder inflammation.

“Everything felt so good and everything was clicking,” Johnson said of his first nine starts. “Then, it kind of came to a screeching halt.”

At first, Johnson and the Marlins thought he’d only spend a couple of weeks on the disabled list. Two weeks turned into a month, which stretched all the way to season’s end.

Johnson said he was “confused and frustrated.”

“It was terrible, especially not knowing what was going on,” he said. “Nobody knew what was going on. I didn’t know what was going on.”

One thing was certain: The Marlins weren’t the same without him and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who also missed much of the season with an injury.

Catcher John Buck disagrees that the Marlins disintegrated last season simply because Johnson wasn’t in the rotation.

“It’s unfair to say it unraveled because of him,” Buck said. “But having him, doing what he can every fifth day, you definitely felt it.”

The Marlins have strengthened their rotation by adding a pair of veterans in Mark Buehrle and Carlos Zambrano, both of whom were once the No. 1 pitchers in their respective rotations.

But Johnson is the unquestioned No. 1 pitcher for the Marlins. Assuming he remains healthy through spring training, he’ll be on the mound for the Marlins on Opening Day and throw the very first pitch in the team’s new ballpark.

The Marlins, though, need for Johnson to remain on the mound from start to finish, something he has accomplished just once in his six big-league seasons.

“There are only a few No. 1 starters in the league,” Choate said. “We have five solid starters. But J.J., he’s such a difference maker. He was lights out before he got hurt last year.”

Legal challenge

The Miami Marlins are being sued for damages by a corporation that says it won a bid to buy the team at an auction more than four years ago. In a complaint filed in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court, Omeranz & Landsma Corporation asserts that team president David Samson, acting as an auctioneer at a 2008 awards banquet, put the team up for sale.

According to the complaint, Omeranz & Landsma made the only bid and Samson accepted the $10 million offer.

“As a result, a binding contract was created,” the complaint says.

This report was supplement with material from Miami Herald wire services.