The Los Angeles Angels have some strengths in the top of their rotation, but the back end is still a work in progress.
The Los Angeles Angels have made yet another pitching move, with the team announcing that starter Ryan Johnson has been put on the injured list due to a virus, according to a report from Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com.
Johnson broke camp as the Angels fifth starter, partly due to a strong spring, but also because of injuries to Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah. The Angels have taken a strange path with Johnson, who was a supplemental second-round draft choice according to Franco, as he often looked overmatched when he skipped the minors entirely and started last season as a reliever.
The Angels opted him back to High-A last year, where Johnson dominated over the course of 12 starts to finish the season. This season turned into deja vu all over again as Johnson allowed six runs to the Chicago Cubs without getting through the fourth innings.
That opened the door for prospect George Klassen to make a spot start against Seattle over the weekend, but it didn’t go well, as Klassen walked four hitters and got only eight outs, although he did strike out five. The Angels used four relievers to eke out an 8-7 win over the Seattle Mariners in 11 innings in that game.
Left-hander Mitch Farris was brought up from Triple-A Salt Lake to take Johnson’s spot on the active roster, but he could end up being a placeholder given that Farris was knocked around in nearly every one of his spring training appearances.
The Angels tend to make pitching moves at a fast and furious pace, and this is the latest example of that. The team hasn’t provided updates about either Rodriguez or Manoah, and manager Kurt Suzuki said the club hasn’t decided whether or not Klassen will get a second start.
Meanwhile, the top of the rotation is starting to fall into place nicely, which is a pleasant surprise. Jose Soriano has looked like ace so far in his three starts, all of which resulted in wins, and Yusei Kikuchi is reliable, although his last start didn’t go well.
Reid Detmers has been impressive so far in making the transition from reliever to full-time starter, so the trick there will be keeping Detmers healthy and dealing with his occasional bad start.
Johnson could have one of those phantom illnesses that teams use when they want to bring back a player quickly, and his IL placement was backdated to April 3. The Angels would do well to give Johnson more time at either Double-A or Triple-A to get more starts and build his confidence, as he looked nowhere near ready to have a role of any kind in a big-league rotation right now.