http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/338 Recent articles about Josh Johnson en-us Somewhere Joe Girardi is collecting the rest of his Marlins paycheck laughing his ass off. JJ not expected to return until 2009. As the kids in National Lampoons Vacation would say, "Thanks Joe!" Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:33:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/22000 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/22000 Jeffrey Loria pointing blame at Joe Girardi for Josh Johnson's potential Tommy John surgery. Girardi misused JJ during last year's series against the Met's on September 12th after bringing him back in prior to an 80 minute rain delay. Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:38:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21288 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21288 Days after Verlander threw his No-No against the Brew crew, word comes from Florida that Anibal Sanchez is flying out to see the MLB Doctor of Death, James Andrews. Sanchez threw a no-hitter last year and was probably way overworked on a whole. He's been banged up this season and now we may know why. On a side note, the Tigers were very careful with Verlander last year. They gave him extra days rest and even skipped him on occasion to keep him fresh. I know he's got a year of major league service under his belt, but it would be in Detroit's best interest to handle him just as cautiously this year as they did last. Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:03:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/16255 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/16255 The cause for Johnsons Spring Training troubles, an irritated ulnar nerve. The good news, the injury won't need surgery. The Bad news, he's likely to miss at least 2 months, possibly more. "Candidates to take his spot in the rotation include right-handers Yusmeiro Petit, Wes Obermueller, Sergio Mitre and Jose Garcia, and left-hander Chris George." Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:08:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10861 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10861 Some reports blame Johnson's arm trouble on nerve damage, and surgery could cost him all of 2007. Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:42:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10691 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/10691 All of you Mariners fans out there that have criticized the Seattle coaching staff for not pushing Felix Hernandez longer in games should take a long look at what's going on in Florida. Pitchers are about to report to spring training and Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez are still throwing with pain. Johnson is dealing with biceps soreness while Sanchez has a balky shoulder. Both have a history of injuries. The Mariners plan was to only increase Felix Hernandez' innings thrown by 15-20 a year. For the most part, they have done just that. Let's see how the Marlins handled Johnson and Sanchez last season, understanding their development over the last three years. Felix Hernandez: 2004 (A, AA) - 149.1 Innings Pitched 2005 (AA, Majors) - 172.1 Innings Pitched 2006 (Majors) - 191 Innings Pitched Anibal Sanchez: 2004 (A) - 76.1 Inning Pitched 2005 (A, AA) - 136 Innings Pitched 2006 (AA, Majors) - 200 Innnings Pitched Josh Johnson: 2004 (A) - 114.1 Innings Pitched 2005 (AA, Majors) - 152 Innings Pitched 2006 (Majors) - 157 Innings Pitched (Ended Season with Biceps injury on September 12th) Hats off to the Mariners and shame on the Marlins. Let's hope Sanchez and Johnson make it to Opening Day. Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:37:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9237 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9237 Joe Girardi, who has kept an overachieving Marlins team in playoff contention despite a 15 million dollar payroll, will be let go after only one year with the ballclub. A source who has spoken with the Marlins front office has said that Girardi has "zero chance" of coming back on a scale of one to ten. Although he is a candidate for Manager of the Year, Girardi has clashed with management all season and was rumored to have almost been fired a little over a month ago. There are two recent incidents that reportedly stand out as Girardi's last straws. The first was leaving starter Josh Johnson in the game after a long rain delay. Johnson subsequently left the game with pain in his forearm and was shut down for the year. The second was inserting outfielder Reggie Abercrombie in as a defensive substitution only to have him commit two crucial errors in a loss to the Braves, that more or less ended the Marlins chances at the postseason. Girardi is in the first year of a three year deal, and will be owed 1.5 million, unless he is picked up by another club. Girardi, who is from the Chicago area, is rumored as replacement for Dusty Baker, if and when he is let go by the Cubs. As for the Marlins, they are already looking to interview the Braves' Fredi Gonzalez, the Mets' Manny Acta and Joey Cora of the White Sox. Fri, 22 Sep 2006 17:57:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2598 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2598 With Johan Santana losing tonight, there is almost no way there will be a 20 game winner in baseball this season. It's unlikely Santana will be able to make two more starts to go from his current 18 wins to 20. This will be only the second non-strike year in the history of the sport in which no one will win 20 games. The only other occasion was in 1995, when Greg Maddux and Mike Mussina tied with 19 wins each. Why is this? Follow the link to see... Fri, 22 Sep 2006 05:34:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2589 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2589 Check out this blogger's 2006 All-Rookie team. It's very well thought out from position players to pitchers all the way down to the mascot. It's amazing how deep this rookie class has been and I think he's right to say that this team would easily make the playoffs and would be a serious threat to win it all. For starters, how incredible would this pitching staff be...and that doesn't even include papelbon closing out games? Starting Rotation SP Francisco Liriano, MIN (12-2, 1.96 ERA) SP Justin Verlander, DET (13-4, 2.69 ERA) SP Jered Weaver, LAA (7-0, 1.51 ERA) SP Josh Johnson, FLA (8-5, 2.60 ERA SP Jon Lester, BOS (5-1, 3.49 ERA) The Marlins have 8 players on this list. I wonder if they'll be good in a few years. Sat, 05 Aug 2006 05:35:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1071 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/1071 Josh Johnson has won his last 3 starts to move his record to 7-4. Not bad for somene that has started 10 games. His record as a starting pitcher is actually 6-2. That said, while most of the fantasy sites are all over how hot he is, there are some not so good signals brewing. Specifically referring to the number of walks he is giving up. For the month of June, Johnson's WHIP was an ugly 1.64. Not to mention his K/BB rate was an unimpressive 1.77. (Just as a frame of reference, the out of favor Jeff Weaver had a WHIP of 1.56 in June. Doesnt exactly make you feel warm and fuzzy does it?) Johnson's overall numbers on the season still look pretty good. (2.19 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP). His next start is against Boston. Johnson's trade value in fantasy leagues is probably as high as its going to get. I can understand the desire to hold onto Johnson if you are in a keeper league, but if you are playing a single season league, you may want to try and move him before his next start against the Red Sox on July 2. Once he gets pummeled it will be much tougher to trade the rookie. Sat, 01 Jul 2006 02:30:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/469 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/469 I waited a couple of waits to pick him up from waivers, and then I waited a couple of weeks too long to activate him, but Josh Johnson has been the pleasant surprise of the season to me. Since being put in the starting rotation in the first week of May, Johnson has yet to have a bad start. In fact, in giving up three runs in 6.2 innings, Johnson actually raised his ERA to 2.20, still best in the League. The only notable weakness in his game that I've been able to detect is bases on balls. He's been a little wild, with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of not quite 2-1. But the results have been otherwise quite stellar for the 22-year old. I rather doubt he can keep up the pace, but if he does, he's a legit contender for rookie of the year, along with about half his Marlin teammates. Tue, 27 Jun 2006 02:17:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/423 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/423 More maddening for my fantasy rotation has been Livian Hernandez. Putrid does not begin to describe how he started the season, and it's obvious that he still has not recovered fully from his knee surgery. Essentially I was better off with his offensive statistics than his pitching numbers. Unfortunately for me Livian teased me, the Nationals and the rest of the league by pitching rather well from the middle of May to the beginning of June. Though he was hardly blowing batters away, he was keeping the ball in the yard and winning games. And then he rediscovered his suck. He's been shaky for four starts, in particular his last two outings in which he gave up 11 earned run in 8.1 innings, walking seven and giving up 16 hits. he couldn't even get out of the second inning against the Red Sox on Monday. So, after I'd finally just about giving up on the old man, what does he do? He pitches, well, well. 6 innings in baltimore, three runs, six hits, and, most importantly for me, he gets the win. Still, he was hardly spectatcular. He only struck out one, and his fastball was clocking in at about 85. Methinks that it's no longer worth waiting for Hernandez to retain his old form, at least not this year. I think the hardest part about being a fantasy owner or fan in general is that no matter how much you soak in statistics, it's really hard to guage a player without actually watching him. But Paul, you might say, don't you live in DC? Can't you watch every game Livian pitches? Ah, you see that's a long story, but in short, most DC fans are shut out of a majority of Nationals games because Peter Angelos is a senile, spiteful cheapskate who, if his own teams's fans can't be happy, will not allow others to be. So it's difficult for me to observe Livian and see just how slow and old he looks on the mound. Sorry Livian, you're out. It's time Josh Johnson, who I've foolishly kept on the bench for three weeks, to come on in. Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:35:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/412 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/412 When you're trying to explain the Marlins' current hot streak, it's easy to point to fluky things like Miguel Cabrerra's Kelly Leak-esque go-ahead single that never should have been (check out the video on MLB.com if you don't watch SportsCenter). Or his 11 for 30 hitting performance over their 9 game winning streak. But pitching has made the real difference in this turnaround. During the 9 game streak, Marlins pitchers had a 1.87 ERA, .85 strike outs per inning, and allowed two or fewer runs seven times. Scott Olsen put up two 8 K games during that time, and Josh Johnson gave up just 1 earned run in each of his two starts, dropping his season ERA to 1.57. The run support that Brian Moehler got in his starts (15 runs over his last two starts) and their 8 runs on 14 hits last night are signals that their offense is healthy too, but credit the Marlins' young pitchers for pulling it all together. Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:22:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/391 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/391 Florida pitcher Josh Jonson could have his first real test next Saturday (6/24) as he steps in to play the Yankees in the Bronx. Sure, the Yankee linup is battered, but this is a national league pitcher that normally pitches in a pitchers park (1.07 home ERA versus 3.07 road ERA) and will now have to prove himself in front of a hostile NY crowd. One item to note in Johnson's stat line is the noticable difference in BBs given up on the road versus at home (17BBs/29IP away verus 7BBs/26IP at home). Could this be a sign that the young gun's confidence is subject to some rattling? Johnson has been dominant so far posting a 2.11 ERA on the season. He even appears to be getting better by increasing his K/9 rate (19Ks in 21IP last three starts.) Dont get overconfident in the kid's abilities and bench Johnson for the upcoming scoring period in your fantasy league. Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:36:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290