Johnson a Sentimental Favorite

We have a request from a gentle reader, well, two requests actually, for a rundown on Jason Johnson who came to camp as a free agent, along with a flock of other pitchers, but is now on the short list for the fifth starter spot.

The requests were received the day before Johnson gave up his first runs of the spring to the Washington Nationals.

The six-foot, six-inch righthander is listed at 225 but because of his height he looks much thinner. He has been in professional baseball since 1992, signing as a non-drafted free agent with Pittsburgh, and made his first Major League start for the Pirates in 1997, ironically enough against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles is his eighth club, but for a time he was one of the premier pitchers in the American League, pitching in 98 games between 2003-2005 (fifth highest in the league).

Johnson was Detroit's opening day starter in 2004 and he worked a career-high 210 innings in 2005, making 19 quality starts to lead the staff.

He's pitched for Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston and Cincinnati but was without a home in 2007 and signed with the Sebu Lions in the Japanese Pacific League in 2007.

Johnson has a good sinker, finishing well up the league list for groundball/fly balls in 2002 and 2005 and has struck out 790 in `,327 Major League innings.

Overall, he is 55-98 with a 4.99 career earned run average and won 10 games twice for Baltimore, in 2001 and 2003.

A diabetic, Johnson has served as spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's "Field of Dreams" fundraiser at Camden Yards in 2000, raising more than $60,000.

He is a long-shot to nail down the fifth starting spot. He has only once allowed less hits than innings pitched in a season, but under the circumstances he has been a long-shot all his life.

His competition is injured Jason Schmidt, who won't be ready for opening day; Hong-Chih Kuo, who has the inside track if his oft-repaired elbow stands up to the grind; Chan Ho Park, coming off a disastrous season last year and now there is talk of uberprospect Clayton Kershaw being thrown into the mix.

He received the Tony Conigliaro Award, presented annually by the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers association of America in memory of the former Red Sox outfielder for spirit and determination in overcoming obstacles.

This is one of those feel-good stories that come along now and again, and he has a number of people pulling for his success.

His Major League record:

Jason Michael Johnson   br  tr  6-6  225
Born- October 27, 1973
Obtained- Signed as a free agent 2008

year team   w-l  era  gm  gs   in  h  bb  so
1997 Pitts  0-0  6.00  3  0   6.0  10  1   3
1998 TBay   2-5  5.70 13 13  60.0  74 27  36  
1999 Balt   8-7  5.46 22 21 115.1 120 55  71
2000 Balt  1-10  7.02 25 13 107.2 119 61  79
2001 Balt  10-12 4.09 32 32 196.0 194 77 114
2002 Balt  5-14  4.59 22 22 131.1 141 41  97
2003 Balt 10-10  4.09 32 32 189.2 216 80 118
2004 Det   8-15  5.13 33 33 196.2 222 60 124
2005 Det   8-13  4.54 33 33 210.0 233 49  92 
2006 Clev  3-8   5.96 14 14  77.0 108 22  32
     Bost  0-4   7.36  6  6  29.1  41 13  18
     Cinn  0-0   3.12  4  0   8.2  11  0   4