Ryan Johnson tosses best start in young career in win over Orioles

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The last two seasons have been a roller coaster for right-hander Ryan Johnson. 

Drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft, he threw his first professional pitch in the big leagues on Opening Day of the 2025 season as a member of the bullpen. A rough month in the bullpen led to him being optioned down to High-A Tri-City to be a starting pitcher, where he dominated. 

Johnson began the season in the big league rotation, but landed on the injured list after only one start. Once he returned, it’s been a bumpy road that’s featured a trip back to the minor leagues and a 12.83 ERA in 13 ⅓ innings with two starts and three appearances from the bullpen. 

With how challenging the last two years have been, it made Tuesday night sweeter, as he delivered the best start of his young MLB career. Johnson tossed six shutout innings, only allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight batters in the Angels’ 5-1 win over the Orioles. 

“I think this year was tough early,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “When he had that one start in Chicago, and then he got sick, and then he got hurt, and then it was just kind of a whirlwind there. It was nice to see him get a couple of starts in a row and pitch well, going through what he's gone through.”

It was a night when all of his pitches were working. 

Johnson got weak contact with his sinker and got swings and misses on everything else, especially his changeup and sweeper. Those two pitches drew swings and misses at a 50% clip each. 

“Just staying aggressive and kind of trusting it,” Johnson said. “Having confidence that I belong here and being able to use all my pitches.”

He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but a one-out single by former Angels prospect Jeremiah Jackson put an end to that. Johnson didn’t let the hit rattle him and induced a ground ball for an inning-ending double play to end Johnson’s night.

“Yeah, it's nice, but it kind of leaves you with, ‘you've got to keep that going,’” Johnson said. “You have to prove that it's not just a one-and-done.”

After narrowly avoiding a shutout the night before, the Angels’ bats got to work early in this one.

Zach Neto led off the bottom of the first inning with a two-strike single, and Nolan Schanuel scored both on a two-run home run that clanked off the top of the right field wall. It was Schanuel’s sixth homer of the season and is now on a six-game hitting streak where he is 9-for-24 (.375). 

“I think I just got my timing back,” Schanuel said. “I was dealing with stuff earlier in the year, and I think this is the best I've felt. So, just kind of getting my body back in good shape, and just being able to see pitches get deeper in counts, and being able to work good at-bats. It's been a big plus these last couple weeks.”

Then in the fifth inning, the Angels put Orioles right-hander Shane Baz in a jam right away with four consecutive hits to start the inning. 

Neto’s double put runners on second and third, which set up Vaughn Grissom’s two-run single. Grissom then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Soler for the third run of the inning. 

It was all the Angels needed, as the bullpen limited the Orioles to only a run. 

The Angels are now 33-48 at the halfway point of the season.