Johnson Back Down

[Texsox]

I heard Danks is available. Coop can fix 'em.

[Dick Allen]

In a way, the Sox set Johnson up to fail. He did strike out a few, but they were hitting rockets off him all night.

 

The way they have jerked him around, and obviously he has something to do with it, isn't exactly going to make him really confident on the mound, but it it's obvious to a lot of us, it has to be obvious to him, the White Sox don't think much of his ability to be effective. It is sort of like what they were with Santiago. You know they don't trust him and won't trust him. It seems like they want him to do well enough another team would give them something they considered more desirable for him. That doesn't look like it will happen, but it seems to be a lock, he'll be a trade throw in soon.

 

So far, as bad as Danks was this year, the 2 replacements have been worse. That won't continue. I expect Gonzalez to get at least a 3 or 4 game audition. If it's bad, Turner is next. I'm sure they wouldn't mind Fulmer being ready in a month or so, but you are going to run into an innings problem with him if he is. Still 19-10. There is room for some experiments.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Dick Allen

[Kyyle23]

In a way, the Sox set Johnson up to fail. He did strike out a few, but they were hitting rockets off him all night.

 

The way they have jerked him around, and obviously he has something to do with it, isn't exactly going to make him really confident on the mound, but it it's obvious to a lot of us, it has to be obvious to him, the White Sox don't think much of his ability to be effective. It is sort of like what they were with Santiago. You know they don't trust him and won't trust him. It seems like they want him to do well enough another team would give them something they considered more desirable for him. That doesn't look like it will happen, but it seems to be a lock, he'll be a trade throw in soon.

 

So far, as bad as Danks was this year, the 2 replacements have been worse. That won't continue. I expect Gonzalez to get at least a 3 or 4 game audition. If it's bad, Turner is next. I'm sure they wouldn't mind Fulmer being ready in a month or so, but you are going to run into an innings problem with him if he is. Still 19-10. There is room for some experiments.

 

I dont really think they have jerked him around too much. The guy has been up multiple times, and has had stinkers like this pretty much every time. You can see it in his body language when things start going wrong too, he starts to nibble and is forced to bring his bp fastball to the zone when the count is in the batters favor.

 

I know he has bounced up and down a few times, and apparently felt that he should have stayed with the big league club out of spring training, but I think he really has gotten opportunities to show he can take this job and has peed down his leg every time. The only time i can recall a solid start from the guy was (i believe) a september start where there was zero pressure on him to perform

[lostfan]

I dont really think they have jerked him around too much. The guy has been up multiple times, and has had stinkers like this pretty much every time. You can see it in his body language when things start going wrong too, he starts to nibble and is forced to bring his bp fastball to the zone when the count is in the batters favor.

 

I know he has bounced up and down a few times, and apparently felt that he should have stayed with the big league club out of spring training, but I think he really has gotten opportunities to show he can take this job and has peed down his leg every time. The only time i can recall a solid start from the guy was (i believe) a september start where there was zero pressure on him to perform

You could see the look of disappointment on his face when Ventura came out to get him last night in the 5th, like "well, I guess that's that."

[Dick Allen]

You could see the look of disappointment on his face when Ventura came out to get him last night in the 5th, like "well, I guess that's that."

The guy was at Soxfest talking about his routine. It was cool and very strange all at the same time. He seems like a very robotic individual.

 

 

It was cool he seemed very confident in his routine, and praised White Sox coaches for helping him out, but he would always go back to his routine like he was a telemarketer reading from a script.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Dick Allen

[Texsox]

He's in a tough position. And he's in a golden position. He's a MLB job. Grab it and hold onto it and it is yours for the next couple seasons. Some guys rise to the occasion.

[BigHurt3515]

I dont really think they have jerked him around too much. The guy has been up multiple times, and has had stinkers like this pretty much every time. You can see it in his body language when things start going wrong too, he starts to nibble and is forced to bring his bp fastball to the zone when the count is in the batters favor.

 

I know he has bounced up and down a few times, and apparently felt that he should have stayed with the big league club out of spring training, but I think he really has gotten opportunities to show he can take this job and has peed down his leg every time. The only time i can recall a solid start from the guy was (i believe) a september start where there was zero pressure on him to perform

 

I just don't get how we can judge a guy off one game this year. Everyone has a bad game, I think we need to give these 5th starters at least 2 games. Boston has been one of the better offenses in the league. If Jackson catches Shaw's long fly ball last night Johnson only allows 3 runs in 5 innings (maybe more).

[Kyyle23]

I just don't get how we can judge a guy off one game this year. Everyone has a bad game, I think we need to give these 5th starters at least 2 games. Boston has been one of the better offenses in the league. If Jackson catches Shaw's long fly ball last night Johnson only allows 3 runs in 5 innings (maybe more).

 

It isnt just one game. This has happened pretty much every time he has come up

[Texsox]

I'm wondering what the tape tells. I hope that at some point he's sitting down with Coop and doing a compare and contrast with his minor starts. I believe he needs to travel with the club and get another one or two starts before hitting the panic button.

[Southwest Sider]

I know he luckily escaped a few jams but lost in all of this is that he did give the team a chance to win that game. For a 5th starter in the AL, that's really all I can ask for. If the Sox had converted on their several opportunities perhaps we'd have seen a different outcome. In a tie game or Sox lead, you don't see Jennings throwing 40+ pitches.

 

Nonetheless, he's back to Charlotte so there must have either been something the Sox didn't like, or a strategic reason for the move. I guess we will see.

Edited May 6, 2016 by South Sider

[Dick Allen]

I know he luckily escaped a few jams but lost in all of this is that he did give the team a chance to win that game. For a 5th starter in the AL, that's really all I can ask for. If the Sox had converted on their several opportunities perhaps we'd have seen a different outcome. In a tie game or Sox lead, you don't see Jennings throwing 40+ pitches.

 

Nonetheless, he's back to Charlotte so there must have either been something the Sox didn't like, or a strategic reason for the move. I guess we will see.

If the exact same thing happened to John Danks, it would be a marathon of DFA posts. I thought EJ had a chance, but he was awful last night. They were hitting rockets everywhere. Unless they fanned, they hit it hard.

[Bob Sacamano]

If the exact same thing happened to John Danks, it would be a marathon of DFA posts. I thought EJ had a chance, but he was awful last night. They were hitting rockets everywhere. Unless they fanned, they hit it hard.

 

So true.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Not to mention 95% of this board have called for Johnson to be sent down anyways. Even Danks had more backers at this point.

[Jake]

He just didn't look remotely good enough, reminiscent of most of his other recent MLB appearances and spring training starts

[Dick Allen]

Who cares? He's gone.

 

Are you telling me fans get tired of the highest paid player when he performs as one of the worst annually? That's some groundbreaking stuff.

No, what I am getting at is the Johnson kept the team in the game argument. He was awful. There are no 2 ways around it. The bullpen had to go 4 innings. He got out of some jams with at em balls. Big Papi rolled into a DP on a rocket. Walks, ridiculous pitch counts...there really was nothing to be encouraged about, except for maybe the strikeouts. Next man up.

 

I really thought he had a chance this season. But he wet the bed in spring training, and last night looked like 2014 all over again. I hope Gonzalez can do something, because that spot, as good as this team has been, has been about as awful as Matt Cain.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Dick Allen

[southsider2k5]

I dont really think they have jerked him around too much. The guy has been up multiple times, and has had stinkers like this pretty much every time. You can see it in his body language when things start going wrong too, he starts to nibble and is forced to bring his bp fastball to the zone when the count is in the batters favor.

 

I know he has bounced up and down a few times, and apparently felt that he should have stayed with the big league club out of spring training, but I think he really has gotten opportunities to show he can take this job and has peed down his leg every time. The only time i can recall a solid start from the guy was (i believe) a september start where there was zero pressure on him to perform

 

I think I remember a certain poster saying at one time, if he can't handle stuff like this, he isn't going to make it as a major league pitcher.

[southsider2k5]

I know he luckily escaped a few jams but lost in all of this is that he did give the team a chance to win that game. For a 5th starter in the AL, that's really all I can ask for. If the Sox had converted on their several opportunities perhaps we'd have seen a different outcome. In a tie game or Sox lead, you don't see Jennings throwing 40+ pitches.

 

Nonetheless, he's back to Charlotte so there must have either been something the Sox didn't like, or a strategic reason for the move. I guess we will see.

 

The Jackson drop didn't help him, but he did get hard last night. It was very similar to the Gonzalez start to be honest.

[southsider2k5]

Well if that was your point, your post didn't do a very good job of conveying it. You never even mentioned the bullpen or EJ hanging in there. Seemed to me like you were painting the whole board with one of your usual sweeping generalization with some hypothetical situation you could never be called on because it's outside the realm of reality.

 

[bmags]

I only see us being saved by Gonzalez. Turner seems like a long shot.

[Kyyle23]

I thought i remembered reading that if Turner comes up, he is either here to stay or will have to be DFA if they dont like what he gives them, they cant just send him back down. Is that correct?

[southsider2k5]

I thought i remembered reading that if Turner comes up, he is either here to stay or will have to be DFA if they dont like what he gives them, they cant just send him back down. Is that correct?

 

I believe he is out of options, and would have to clear waivers.

[bmags]

I thought i remembered reading that if Turner comes up, he is either here to stay or will have to be DFA if they dont like what he gives them, they cant just send him back down. Is that correct?

 

That sounds right, but haven't they already successfully passed him through waivers to put him in Charlotte?

[Kyyle23]

So i guess that is probably why we havent seen him yet.

[lostfan]

It wasn't really "just one start," Johnson was a semi-known quantity already, but he didn't show us anything to give reason to believe he would be more than an emergency fifth starter. There's a couple of other things the Sox should try first before settling on Johnson.

[southsider2k5]

It wasn't really "just one start," Johnson was a semi-known quantity already, but he didn't show us anything to give reason to believe he would be more than an emergency fifth starter. There's a couple of other things the Sox should try first before settling on Johnson.

 

He was a compete train wreck during his stretch here in 2014, and took months to recover from it in the minors. His 2015 numbers look nice with that 3.34 era, but the dude had a 5.93 fip.