Familiar pattern for rotation as Angels' No. 2 prospect makes 1st MLB start

CHICAGO -- Ryan Johnson's attack-minded approach had caught the eye of Angels manager Kurt Suzuki this spring.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 Angels prospect had struck out 23 in 20 2/3 innings against five walks in Cactus League play, spurring him into the final spot in the Angels’ Opening Day rotation, his second straight year on the big league roster to begin the season.

“His aggressiveness,” Suzuki lauded before the Angels’ 7-2 loss to the Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field. “He’s going to attack the zone, he’s going to throw strikes, I guess so to say. It’s just execution of pitches.”

The command, though, wasn’t there early for Johnson in his first start in the Majors. It took him eight pitches before he landed a strike, and he walked three of the first four hitters he faced, which put him behind the proverbial eight ball.

“Definitely had some nerves and was just too timid,” Johnson said after the game. “Wasn’t aggressive, just needed to go out there and attack and was too much on my heels.”

Johnson’s outing continued a slow start to the season for the Angels’ rotation. Only José Soriano (six innings on Opening Day) has recorded more than 15 outs in a start. That’s put an early tax on a bullpen that has had to gobble innings five games into the year. Angels relievers have had to cover 19 2/3 innings, the third-most in the Majors. Monday night, they had to pick up 14 outs after Johnson departed.

Johnson’s walks, coupled with an early defensive miscue, led to a three-run first inning for the Cubs. Carson Kelly hit a two-out, 81.3 mph popup to shallow center that evaded center fielder Mike Trout and second baseman Oswald Peraza, dropping for a two-run single.

“Unfortunately for us, it was like in the worst possible spot, wind being tricky,” Suzuki said after the game. “It was a tough play. It was one of those ‘Bermuda Triangle balls’ they call it.”

Johnson escaped the inning a batter later, but he had already thrown 32 pitches, and it would lead to another short outing by an Angels starter. Johnson finished with four walks.

“It’s unlike him to walk guys, but sometimes you don’t have your command, and you got to battle,” Suzuki said. “He battled. He did the best he could with what he had. Unfortunately, we came up on the losing side.”

Johnson was hurt by another defensive hiccup, which led to a pair of runs for the Cubs in the third inning. After serving up a one-out solo home run to Ian Happ then yielding a single and a double to put runners at second and third, Johnson induced a liner from Kelly to Peraza for the second out.

After making the catch, Peraza rifled the ball to Yoán Moncada at third base, who went to tag Pete Crow-Armstrong as he struggled to find the bag with his foot, but the Cubs center fielder slid in around Moncada’s glove.

Rather than getting out of the inning, a two-run single by Moisés Ballesteros a batter later made it a 6-0 game.

“What happened was since the play was so quick that when he threw me the ball, I tried to look for the bag with my foot, but I couldn’t find it, and the reaction was to go and tag him,” Moncada said in Spanish.

Johnson finished the third without any more damage, but he exited after a leadoff walk and a single in the fourth. He finished with six earned runs allowed on seven hits with two strikeouts across 3 1/3 innings.

Left-hander Joey Lucchesi tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Johnson before Shaun Anderson picked up the final nine outs of the game, helping preserve some of the Angels' bullpen.

“You have a tough game like this, but when those guys come in, you look at the positives, and they did a great job and gave our bullpen a break,” Suzuki said.