The Los Angeles Angels got a strong start from Ryan Johnson against the Detroit Tigers, and the results was a 3-2 win.
Los Angeles Angels starter Ryan Johnson is one of the most impressive prospects in the Halos pitching pipeline, but he hasn’t had an easy go of it so far. He’s been bounced around a lot by the Angels, but now he’s getting a solid shot as a starter, and yesterday the results were impressive.
Johnson pitched five innings of one-run baseball to get the win in a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers, but he didn’t do it the easy way. He gave up a leadoff home run to Kevin McGonicle to start the game, which was definitely different.
“It's the first time I've ever given up a leadoff home run, so that was a new experience,” Johnson said in a followup piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “But I was able to stay focused, stay with the game plan and attack.”
The game plan for Johnson was to throw strikes and attack hitters, and it worked to near-perfection, as he retired 14 of the next 15 hitters he faced. After that, thought, he loaded the bases by walking two after givingup a single, which left him facing All-Star Dillon Dingler. But Johnson struck out Dillon, which definitely impressed his manager.
“He really didn't panic,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “We were kind of joking like he didn’t make it easy, getting to Dingler, the All-Star. But he made a big pitch. You saw the emotion, you saw how fired up he was. That was a good experience for him to learn how to get out of those situations.”
The outing was Johnson’s longest of the year, largely due to his control problems, and he often struggles with runners on. The Angels know it’s part of the learning process, though, as Suzuki noted.
“That thought did cross my mind,” Suzuki said when he was asked about Johnson’s troubles with traffic. “I was thinking, ‘Oh boy, we'll find out.’ But he was great. Executing a pitch when you have to execute a pitch in a situation like that is what it's all about.”
The goal is to have Johnson pitch well enough to become a rotation staple, but it’s not carved in stone. He’s had plenty of rough starts, but slowly the good ones are starting to creep into the pitching picture.
“I don't know if there's any specific goals other than just keep competing and getting a feel for being in the rotation week to week,” Johnson said. “I feel like I've been able to get into a good routine and figure out what I want to do in between starts that makes me feel good and start getting comfortable on the mound.
“I just have to trust the game plan. Just know that I can be aggressive and attack in the zone. And then roll from there.”
