Angels Make Ryan Johnson Surprising Opening Day Addition
Ryan Johnson’s first professional pitch was also his first MLB one.
The Angels are notorious for their audacious player promotions. Still, it was an unexpected turn for the 22-year-old righthander.
Johnson felt he would have a traditional development path to Anaheim. Instead the 2024 second-rounder became the 24th player in MLB history to make the jump from the draft to the big leagues without spending a day in the minor leagues.
“I was pretty surprised by it,” said Johnson, a Dallas Baptist product. “It’s a crazy road. Unreal and not how I pictured it. I thought it would be more like three or four years down the road. I was planning for the long haul.”
The Angels have aggressively fast-tracked their college draftees. Four of them were the first player from their draft classes to reach MLB: Chase Silseth, Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Johnson from the 2021 through 2024 drafts.
Johnson made six appearances in the Cactus League and allowed five runs in 11.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
Johnson has changed the grip on his cutter since his college days. He once used a gyro slider grip. Now he uses a four-seam fastball grip that is a little off-center. It helps him get into “that natural supination and kind of cut it,” according to Johnson.
“He handled himself like a pro and his work ethic was exactly what we expected out of the draft,” Angels GM Perry Minasian said. “We feel like he’s got weapons for both sides and is somebody who can help us win baseball games.”
Angels manager Ron Washington agreed. “He proved that he is mature, even though he hadn’t had any professional experience,” he said. “We didn’t give him anything. He took the job.”
The Angels had hoped that Johnson’s collegiate strike-throwing would translate to pro ball and he could develop into a workhorse starter. The club has not surrendered that hope.
“We believe he is going to be a starter,” Minasian said. “I think there’s tons of examples of guys who have broken in from the bullpen and eventually started.”
