ANAHEIM -- Right-hander Ryan Johnson who ranked among the Angels' top prospects to open the season, has plenty of potential. But he had a tough first half, with a 6.75 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.
Johnson looked better in his first start after the All-Star break, as he threw five solid innings against the Tigers in a 3-2 victory in the series finale on Sunday at Angel Stadium. The 23-year-old shook off a leadoff homer by Kevin McGonigle to start the game, as it was the only run Johnson allowed, and he didn’t give up another hit until the fifth inning.
“It's the first time I've ever given up a leadoff home run, so that was a new experience,” Johnson said. “But I was able to stay focused, stay with the game plan and attack.”
After the leadoff blast, Johnson retired 14 of the next 15 batters he faced until he allowed a two-out single to James Outman in the fifth. He walked Jake Rogers and McGonigle to load the bases but struck Dillon Dingler with a 2-2 sweeper to get out of the jam.
Johnson, who is normally calm and collected, was fired up after recording the strikeout and pumped his fist into his glove on the mound. It was the final pitch of the afternoon for Johnson, who threw 91 pitches and struck out five. Johnson, the club’s second-round pick in the 2024 Draft who memorably made his MLB debut last year before ever pitching in the Minors, surrendered one run on two hits and three walks to improve to 2-4 with a 6.10 ERA this season.
“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.”
It was something to build on for Johnson, who has shown the ability to pitch well while in his full windup despite struggles from the stretch with runners on base. When he was cruising through the Tigers' lineup, he was pitching with nobody on, but his struggles didn’t come until the fifth, when he issued consecutive walks after giving up a single.
But that’s why that strikeout of Dingler was a big moment for Johnson, who didn’t let the inning get out of hand and kept the Angels in the game. Johnson, though, will need to improve on that to pitch deeper into games, as his longest outing this year has been just six innings.
“That thought did cross my mind,” Suzuki said of Johnson having trouble with runners on. “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.”
Johnson will also get a chance to make more consistent starts, as he surprisingly claimed a rotation spot to open the season after a strong spring, but missed time on the injured list after falling ill in early April. He returned to make three relief appearances in May and has been getting his opportunity to show what he can do as a starter since rejoining the rotation in mid-June.
“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.”
He has plenty of funk to keep hitters off-balance, using his whole arsenal of sweepers, cutters, splitters and sinkers against the Tigers. He registered 12 swings and misses, including seven with the sweeper, three with the cutter and two with the splitter.
The homer came on a sinker below the zone after Johnson fell behind in the count to McGonigle, 2-0. He threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 20 batters he faced, so that's also something he'll need to work on going forward.
“I just have to trust the game plan,” Johnson said. “Just know that I can be aggressive and attack in the zone. And then roll from there.”