Ryan

Johnson

Johnson gave up one hit, walked two and struck out three. He improved to 3-7 with the win. While the results were excellent, there’s not much in Johnson’s profile that suggests they’re repeatable. Johnson lowered his ERA to 5.75 and still has a 5.38 xFIP. He’s not lined up for another start at the moment.

Johnson gave up just a pair of solo homers, but that was two more runs than Noah Cameron allowed in his one-hitter Sunday. Johnson has pitched well in his three August starts, giving up just four runs over his 14 1/3 innings to lower his overall ERA to 6.41. He’ll try and keep it going over the weekend against the Rangers.

Johnson held the Rangers to one run into the fifth inning on Tuesday. The one run came on a leadoff homer by Joc Pederson in the first inning. Johnson scattered two more hits and two walks, striking out five before departing at 84 pitches with one out in the fifth inning. The 24-year-old right-hander will take a 6.71 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and a 43/27 K/BB ratio across 55 innings into a start against the Royals in Anaheim on Sunday.

All five walks happened in the first three innings, but the only extra-base hit the Orioles were able to muster against the Angels was Yohel Pozo’s solo homer. None of the underlying numbers look particularly good for Johnson -- 17 percent whiff rate, five hard-hit balls -- and he and his 7.11 ERA would be a tough player to trust against the Rangers next week.

The Angels sent Johnson down Saturday knowing that they could quickly recall him after trading a pitcher or two and that’s what they did. He’s still a part of the rotation, and he’ll likely face the Orioles on Thursday.

This could be a very brief demotion for Johnson, as the Angels would be able to recall him immediately after trading a pitcher. He obviously wasn’t going to be available for several days after giving up five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his start Friday against the Brewers.

Johnson walked three and struck out three. He finishes July having gone 1-3 with a 7.89 ERA in his five starts. It would be time for the Angels to think about trying someone else in the rotation, but since they’re likely to trade at least one starting pitcher, they probably won’t have that luxury. Johnson is due to face the Orioles on Thursday.

Johnson held the Giants scoreless over two innings, then fell apart in the fifth as he gave up five runs on five hits, including a three-run homer by Jung Hoo Lee. Two hits and a hit batter would bring a run in and leave two runners on in the fourth as Johnson was chased at 69 pitches. Both inherited runners would come in to score, making it eight earned runs allowed. The 23-year-old right-hander will take a 7.34 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and a 34/17 K/BB ratio across 41 2/3 innings into a start against the Brewers in Anaheim on Friday.

Johnson gave up a leadoff homer to Kevin McGonigle in the first, but that was all of the damage. He allowed only one more hit, so the three walks didn’t hurt, and he posted a 13.2 percent swinging strike rate and 32 percent CSW on the day while striking out five. Johnson has a 6.10 ERA on the season, but he has pitched much better lately with a 2.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a nearly 24 percent strikeout rate over 25 innings in his last five starts. He’ll pitch in San Francisco next weekend and could be on the streaming radar in deeper formats.

Detmers has been a viable fantasy option for most of the first half of the season despite winning only three games, as he registered a 4.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 123/35 K/BB ratio across 108 2/3 innings through his first 19 starts. He’ll be followed in the Angels’ rotation by Grayson Rodriguez and Ryan Johnson in their weekend series against the Tigers. Jose Soriano and Walbert Urena will pitch on Monday and Tuesday respectively against the Cardinals.