Josh

Johnson

Johnson had issues with the strike zone that led to manager Joe Girardi getting tossed during a four-run second. He can’t afford these kind of short outings if he’s going to qualify for the ERA title at the end of the year. Of course, he’s not going to be a candidate the the ERA title anyway unless he pitches well enough to go six or seven innings a start. His struggles today dropped him behind Brandon Webb and into second place on the list.

Johnson’s ERA has been climbing, but he still hasn’t given up more than four runs in any of his 16 starts. He’s 9-5 with a 2.52 ERA, and since he was in the bullpen at the start of the year, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll have to deal with too much fatigue down the stretch.

Johnson had faded a bit lately, but he can’t be dropped in mixed leagues just yet, not when he’s still capable of performances like this. He has joined Ricky Nolasco to give the Marlins a second 10-game winner -- Scott Olsen will try to make it three on Saturday -- and he’s moved back into the NL lead in ERA at 2.69.

Johnson walked one and struck out five, but a two-run homer in the third and a pair of hits in the second allowed the Giants to score three times. The outing was Johnson’s first in six tries in which he yielded more than two runs. He’ll get these same Giants again next time out.

Johnson struck out seven in his fifth straight quality start. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his eight starts since moving into the rotation. There just aren’t many National Leaguers pitching any better than Johnson is right now.

Johnson struck out five, but he walked six and needed 120 pitches to retire just 17 batters. He also gave up eight hits, but that he was able to pitch out of jams when he obviously wasn’t at his best is a strong statement by the youngster. Johnson is 5-2 and hasn’t yielded more than three runs in any of his nine starts since moving into the rotation.

Johnson had a 1.96 ERA in six starts after moving into the rotation last month, and he kept it going here. There’s little chance he’ll return to the bullpen at any point this season.

Johnson walked just two and gave up a pair of singles in the outing. He’s now given up a total of five earned runs in 29 2/3 innings of work over five starts. Johnson should cool off eventually, but he still should have some value in NL-only leagues while in the rotation. He’s certainly worth using while playing well and facing the Giants next time out.

Johnson didn’t have one of his better outings, but he did avenge what had been his worst start of the year. He gave up five runs over three innings in a loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 5.

He walked just one while fanning five, but did not factor in the decision. His ERA for the year now stands at 2.90.