D. J. Johnson (baseball)

Daniel Stuart Johnson (born August 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Cleveland Indians organization. He has previously played for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

D. J. Johnson
Cleveland Indians – No. 56
Pitcher
Born: (1989-08-30) August 30, 1989
Beaverton, Oregon
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 9, 2018, for the Colorado Rockies
NPB: July 10, 2020, for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Win–loss record1–2
Earned run average4.88
Strikeouts33
NPB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Win–loss record1-0
Earned run average3.81
Strikeouts29
Teams

Amateur career

Johnson attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon.[1] He attended Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon for two years (2008 and 2009).[1] He then attended Western Oregon University in 2010. An injury kept him from pitching that season, and poor grades limited him to just 11 games played as a position player.[2]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

Undrafted after his junior year of college, Johnson signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on June 24, 2010, after being noticed by a scout at a local American Legion exhibition game.[2] He played for the GCL Rays in 2010.[3] He was released by the Rays on April 20, 2011.[3]

Arizona Diamondbacks

He then signed and played for the Traverse City Beach Bums of the independent baseball Frontier League, until signing a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 5, 2011.[2] He spent the 2011 through 2013 seasons in the Arizona system, playing for the South Bend Silver Hawks and the Visalia Rawhide.[2] Johnson did not appear in a game in 2013; instead rehabbing a torn Teres Major muscle, that occurred during the 2012 season.[2]

Minnesota Twins

Johnson was released by Arizona after the 2013 season, and again played for Traverse City to start the 2014 season. He signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins on July 28, 2014 and remained in their system through the 2015 season.[3] He played for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Chattanooga Lookouts while with the Twins.[3]

Log Angeles Angels

He signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins on November 24, 2015, but was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the Triple A phase of the 2015 Rule 5 draft on December 10, 2015.[4] He played for the Arkansas Travelers in 2016.[3]

Colorado Rockies

He became a free agent after the 2016 season and signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies on November 18, 2016.[5] He spent the 2017 season with the Hartford Yard Goats. Johnson spent the 2018 minor league season with the Albuquerque Isotopes.[5][3]

Johnson was called up to the major leagues for the first time on September 4, 2018 and made he debut five days later on September 9.[6]

In 2019, Johnson made the Rockies opening day roster.[7] Johnson was released by the Rockies on October 23, 2019 to seek an opportunity in Japan.[8]

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

On October 25, 2019, Johnson signed a one-year contract with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball.(NPB)[9][10] On July 10, 2020, Johnson made his NPB debut.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On September 21, 2020, Johnson was traded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in exchange for cash.

On December 2, 2020, he become a free agent.[11]

Cleveland Indians

On February 2, 2021, Johnson was signed by the Cleveland Indians to a minor league contract.[12]

Personal life

After the 2016 season, Johnson was not offered a contract by the Angels, and he worked at a lumber yard that offseason before being signed by the Rockies.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Corvallis Knights Alum DJ Johnson Takes Long Road to Major Leagues". corvallisknights.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  2. Tyson Alger (August 9, 2013). "Rare injury puts Sunset-grad D.J. Johnson's rise through Diamondbacks' system on pause". oregonlive.com. The Oregonian. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  3. "DJ Johnson Player Page". MLB.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  4. Mike Digiovanna (December 10, 2015). "Angels expect Rule 5 picks Deolis Guerra and Ji-Man Choi to make big-league team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  5. Kyle Newman (September 7, 2018). "From minor league stadiums across the nation to an Ohio lumber yard, Rockies' reliever DJ Johnson persevered for first big league opportunity". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  6. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/04/more-rockies-september-call-ups/
  7. Patrick Saunders (March 27, 2019). "Rockies' 29-year-old rookie DJ Johnson living out his big-league dream on opening day". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  8. Thomas Harding (October 23, 2019). "Rox reliever Johnson to pursue career in Japan". MLB.com. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  9. "DJ・ジョンソン選手、選手契約合意！". 広島東洋カープ 公式サイト (in Japanese). October 25, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  10. Dylan A. Chase (October 25, 2019). "Hiroshima Carp Sign DJ Johnson". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  11. "2020年度 自由契約選手". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  12. "Transactions". Indians.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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