Trolling through the FA pitchers: Tyler Johnson
After the Big Randy Unit signed with the G-Men, I started to wonder about who's left to be signed. There are still some talented pitchers, like Sheets and Lowe, but for the most part, it's a Sea of Mediocrity. (A lot of names I hadn't thought about in some time, or never heard of at all. I'll think "hey, what about this guy?", click on his Yahoo! stats, and say, "Oh. He stinks.")
So I was trying to convince myself that Tom Glavine would be a good signing, when I came across one Tyler Johnson, most recently with St. Louis. Admittedly, there's some risk there, as he missed all of last season with surgery on his pitching arm (rotator cuff, I believe). Still...
- He's a 27-year-old lefthanded reliever
- Although he had an unremarkable 2006 (4.95 ERA), he did pitch well in the postseason, with a 2.45 ERA in 7 innings
- More to the point, he was pretty good in 2007, finishing the season with a 4.03 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and .217 BAA, all career lows.
Before the injury, you'd think he was on the verge of becoming a decent pitcher. (Interestingly enough, in 2005 and 2006, he had averaged more than a strikeout per inning. In 2007, his good season, his strikeout rate was down, but so were his walks. Must...not...use..."pitcher not thrower"...cliche....)
If he were a free agent before the injury, I'd assume he'd be a pretty valuable commodity. I think it takes a year or two to come back from rotator surgery, so I wouldn't look for him to help anytime soon. Still, given the lack of decent pitching available now, how expensive said decent pitching is, and Moustache's penchant for finding cheap reclamation projects...I wonder if it's worth sending a Brewer representative over to check on how Johnson's rehab is going.
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Comments
Sign Lee Gronkiewicz
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on Dec 27, 2008 10:02 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I actually thought the same thing looking at a list a while ago
I liked his throwing motion— really smooth.
Scored three times and detonated an indisputable in four visits to the batting box.
by Jordan M on Dec 27, 2008 10:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
RJ
you just want to be able to make Johnson jokes all season long are are depressed about losing the comedic gold of the Big Unit.
September 15: Not a bad little Monday
by molitorfan on Dec 27, 2008 2:38 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Tell me about it
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on Dec 27, 2008 4:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
You can still make Johnson jokes
I’ll laugh
"If loving CC is wrong I do not want to be right"
"If lovin’ Braun is wrong, I want to be a repeat offender"
by kirbir on Dec 27, 2008 5:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
There's no reason to sign a lefty reliever at this point.
Swindle and Stetter will be enough.
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by Jack Moore on Dec 27, 2008 4:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I was thinking about that
Yahoo!‘s splits on him are incomplete, though I think that although he’s better against lefties, he’s not horrible against righties.
If his upside is a LOOGY, then he might not be worth the investment. I was thinking he could be serviceable against left-handed and right-handed batters. Maybe I’ll dig around for his minor league numbers.
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on Dec 27, 2008 4:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
He is pretty balanced, actually. I’d take him, though we are set with LOOGYs.
Scored three times and detonated an indisputable in four visits to the batting box.
by Jordan M on Dec 27, 2008 5:50 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
...wait a second
That’s not the Tyler Johnson I wanted.
Good job, iditot. That Tyler Johnson is a terrible hitter, apparently. The lack of FIP should’ve tipped me off there. :)
Scored three times and detonated an indisputable in four visits to the batting box.
by Jordan M on Dec 27, 2008 5:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Cards Fan Here
Tyler was always frustrating to watch. He seemed to always have the skills but failed to always turn them on. He was unhittable in the 2006 post season though. His slider was amazing to watch with a plus fastball. He does have upside for sure and still has minor league options also. If a team needed a 2nd LOOGY guy than I think the risk would be worth it.
Stat Whore
by FlimtotheFlam on Jan 1, 2009 1:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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