As the Los Angeles Angels start to showcase their best prospects in spring training, it’s important to remember what can happen when these things go sideways. It happens frequently, especially with the Angels, and some of these prospects never really recover from the experience.
Exhibit A is pitcher Ryan Johnson, who was last season’s shiny new prospect. He unexpectedly made the team coming out of spring training, and there was all kinds of excitement about his stuff, potential and the role he might play in Anaheim going forward.
It didn’t go well. Johnson is still considered an impact arm, but he’s no longer the focus of all that attention, so let’s focus on his attributes and weaknesses to see what went wrong.
Johnson himself thought he would have a more traditional, linear path the the majors, according to Taylor Ward of Baseball America when he wrote about the promotion last year. The Angels second-round pick in the 2024 draft became just the 24th player sin MLB history to make the jump from the draft to the majors without spending a single day in the minor leagues.
“I was pretty surprised by it,” said Johnson, who pitched out of Dallas Baptist. “It’s a crazy road. Unreal and not how I pictured it. I thought it would be more like three or four years down the road. I was planning for the long haul.”
It wasn’t like Johnson knocked it out of the park in spring training last year, either. He made six appearances in the Cactus League and allowed five runs in 11-1/3 innings, according to Taylor, and this was part of why he wasn’t expecting to be promoted so quickly.
But GM Perry Minasian was impressed. Minasian is often part of the problem in these kinds of Angels scenarios, as he offers possibilities that don’t seem in any way connected to reality.
“He handled himself like a pro and his work ethic was exactly what we expected out of the draft,” Angels GM Perry Minasian. “We feel like he’s got weapons for both sides and is somebody who can help us win baseball games.”
Then-manager Ron Washington was also impressed by Johson’s maturity, but the results were disastrous. Johnson got rocked, posting a 7.38 ERA in 14 appearances, as the Angels quickly discovered that the velocity they thought would play to hitters on both sides of the plate got hit hard by big-league hitters.
Now Johnson is back on the slow track to the big leagues. The talent is still there, and it includes a five-pitch arsenal, a funky delivery, and a plus sweeper/cutter combination that’s his primary out pitch. His spring training appearances will likely be for developmental purposes with new pitching coach Mike Maddux and rookie manager Kurt Suzuki, and that’s the way it should have been last season, too