Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Before the 2013 season started, Josh Johnson was supposed to give the Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation a proverbial ace in the hole.
By the time he’s finished making his next start, however, it’s very possible that he won’t be in the team’s starting five at all:
AA on Josh Johnson: “We have to look at alternatives at some point if this continues, it’s really start to start at this point.” #BlueJays
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 4, 2013
Yes, not even a 3.65 xFIP can save the righty from the wrath of the bluebirds GM at this point. If you want the textbook definition of exactly what an athlete should not do during a contract year, you’d need to look no further than Johnson, who is set to enter free agency coming off what will have been easily his worst season in the majors.
To add to the fact that he might just be a reliever by the end of the season? Well, that’s just almost adding insult to injury.
Not that health has been an issue for him though — or so the hurler has insisted, anyway. It’s difficult to look at his 6.60/1.68 ERA/WHIP and agree that the triceps injury that cost him 34 games didn’t factor into his nightmare 2013, but then again, his fastball velocity did remain steady from last season at an average of 92.8 mph, and he’s still striking out 9.2 batters per inning …
Peripherals seem to matter a little less when the results are one of the worst performances by a starting pitcher in the bigs in 2013, though, and the fact that he’s giving up a whopping 1.77 HR/9 clearly suggests that there’s something not quite right here. There’s been stretches where it may have looked like he was back, but at this point, it’s clear that Johnson would not have been in the rotation if not for his contract status.
Should the 29-year-old not find the solid performance that he’s looking for in his next turn, the Blue Jays could have a bevy of names looming to take over for him in the rotation.
J.A. Happ is set to make his return next week, while prospects Marcus Stroman and Sean Nolin (who could really use a little redemption from his disasterous MLB debut) continue to make waves at double-A Buffalo. Not far behind them in progress are second-time Tommy John surgery survivor Kyle Drabek and first-timer Drew Hutchison.
None of them are anything close to being a sure thing, of course; but with the rotation all but in shambles and JJ quickly falling below the “anyone with an arm” line with each start … any option is a good one at this point.
