Johnson Turns Promise Into Performance In His Return To Texas

Los Angeles Angels starter Ryan Johnson started his pitching career at Dallas Baptist University, and he returned to his Texas roots by baffling the local nine with a one-hit, seven-inning shutout effort as the Angels posted a 3-0 win last night over the Texas Rangers.   

It was the latest installment in the Ryan Johnson saga, which is starting to read like a success story. The 6’6” right-hander was dealing throughout the evening, as he struck out three and walked two to go with three strikeouts while keeping his pitch count low enough to go seven innings. 

Johnson has been under pressure throughout the season due to his erratic performance, but he clearly didn’t feel it last night while pitching in front of family and friends against the Rangers. 

“I didn't feel much pressure,” Johnson said about pitching in front of friends and family in a report from Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “I was kind of just free. I felt like it's the preparation that got me here. I was able to trust in that and go out there, play and have fun.”

He certainly didn’t make it a fun evening for the Rangers. It took six innings for the Rangers to get their first hit, as Cody Freeman whacked a single to left. Johnson generated some traffic after that, but he got out of the jam unscathed as he turned the game over to the bullpen. 

“I thought he was great,” said manager Kurt Suzuki. “I feel like he's been trending up. Stuff's getting better. He's getting more consistent. He's believing in himself. I think tonight was just a culmination of him believing in it, trusting it. When you throw with confidence, you tend to kind of keep getting better and better.”

Johnson’s performance obscured an issue that’s been gaining traction lately, as Yusei Kikuchi is scheduled to make his first start in four months after an extended stretch on the IL. Kikuchi pronounced himself fit and ready to go after his last rehab start despite the fact that he got pounded at Single-A, but the left-hander didn’t want to hear about the possibility of making another start. 

Suzuki tap-danced around the issue when he was asked about the performance of the starters in general, but he definitely set the bar with his comment. 

“They've been good,” Suzuki said of the starting pitchers before stopping himself, per Bollinger. “They've been better than good. They've been outstanding and consistent. Everybody's feeding off each other and they got a really good thing going on in there right now.”