Ryan Johnson’s last start of the season didn’t come with a clean finish, but it did underline why the Angels have reason to keep paying attention.
The rookie right-hander worked five innings in Saturday’s 8-4 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks. He didn’t get the win or the loss, but the outing was a reminder that even after a rough night, Johnson’s late-season stretch has given the Angels something to build on.
Over his final 10 starts, Johnson posted a 2.83 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 54 innings. For the year, the 24-year-old finished with a 5.04 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 100 total frames.
That’s a far cry from the 7.63 ERA he carried into his first August start, when he had logged 46 innings. The rebound matters.
“Definitely wasn't my sharpest,” Johnson said. “Had some free passes there that came around to score.
Just need to be sharper. But it's probably not the worst thing to go into the offseason with a little fire and a little edge, just taking one that didn't go necessarily the way I wanted it to.”
Johnson’s second-half surge lined up with a change in the coaching staff. Interim pitching coach Tim Levaque and bullpen coach Michael Wuertz took over in mid-August, and Johnson was allowed to return to the long-toss routine that has him throwing from foul pole to foul pole. He also adjusted his pitch usage, leaning more on his cutter and sweeper while still mixing in a changeup and sinker.
“There's a lot of things,” Kurt Suzuki said. “You can talk about routine, the long-toss program.
And having his bullpens be a little bit more specific to help him with his pitch shapes and all those types of things. His sweeper is his bread and butter and it wasn't where he wanted it to be.
So getting it where he wanted it to be was a big part of his success.”
Suzuki wasn’t bothered by the final line Saturday. Johnson ran into trouble with his control and kept pitching through traffic, eventually returning for the fifth and allowing a leadoff single to Randy Arozarena and a double to Dominic Canzone before both runners scored. Seattle built a four-run cushion, the Angels answered with four in the sixth, and then lefty Mitch Farris gave up four runs in the seventh.
Even with the shaky finish, Suzuki said he liked what he saw.
“I thought he was pretty good,” Suzuki said. “The couple innings they scored off him earlier started with a walk and then a blooper.
For the most part, I thought he was good. He threw some good fastballs up, which was a positive thing.
I know he's been working on that in the ‘pen, so to see it in the game and being successful was a good sign.”
Johnson, the Angels’ second-round pick out of Dallas Baptist in 2024, still has work to do if he’s going to lock down a rotation spot. But his late push keeps him in the conversation, especially with fellow rookie Walbert Urena and Reid Detmers both breaking out this year, Grayson Rodriguez under team control for three more years and Yusei Kikuchi signed through next season.
“I feel like I was able to finish strong,” Johnson said. “There's a lot of good things that I'm able to carry over.
And It's good to have some things to work on, that kind of keeps you grounded. Just kind of go into the offseason and get prepared for next year.”
The loss left the Angels needing to win Sunday’s season finale to avoid a 100-loss season. They’ve never lost 100 games in a year and remain the only MLB team that hasn’t done it.
“We're trying to go out there and win, obviously,” Suzuki said. “We know it’s been talked about over the last few weeks. But tomorrow, we’re going to come here and be ready to play.”
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