Apparently Jim Johnson is human.
He allowed a run Monday during his seventh save of the season in a 7-5 win against the Dodgers. That ended his scoreless-innings streak at 17 2/3 — third-longest at the time behind Clayton Kershaw (20 innings) and Zack Greinke (43 2/3).
He finished that streak as a closer, having assumed the role when Jason Grilli tore his left Achilles tendon July 11 in Colorado. He’s three-for-three in save opportunities since then.
“The pressure (of closing) you can put on yourself is a perception,” Johnson said. “Some people feel it, and some people don’t. It’s kind of how you react.”
Those sound like words from a guy who fell face-first in the dirt and stood up with a new, almost-Zen perspective.
Who knows about the Zen thing, but Johnson definitely tasted dirt in his baseball career last year.
He debuted with the Orioles in 2006 and earned a full-time bullpen gig two years later. In 2012 he became their closer and made his first and only All-Star game, finishing the season with a league-leading 51 saves and a 2.49 ERA. More of the same followed the next year, with a league-leading 50 saves and a 2.94 ERA.
That offseason the Athletics made him their shiny, new closer with a one-year, $10-million contract for 2014.
But after five appearances with Oakland, Johnson crashed back down to earth and shot through to professional hell. He lost ninth-inning duties after posting an 18.90 ERA and Sean Doolittle, who made $630,000 that year, replaced him and made the All-Star game.
Oakland eventually cut Johnson in late July.
The Tigers picked him up and used him as a regular reliever, calling on him anywhere from the fourth to 11th inning. A change of scenery did nothing, though, and Johnson finished his Detroit days with a 6.92 ERA.
This year the Braves took a chance on the castoff 32-year-old with a one-year, $1.5-million contract, and he’s been worth the $10 million Oakland paid him. After allowing five runs over three rough outings April 17-22, Johnson has a 1.42 ERA in his past 39 games and he’s 2-3 overall with a 2.15 ERA — on pace for a career low.
“I was really happy for him to turn his career around, or have a better season that he had last year, let’s put it that way,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “… I mean they couldn’t even pitch him in the sixth inning (last season). It was terrible and all of a sudden, here we are.”
Here we are — Johnson is a closer for the first time since Oakland ripped that label off his back. But he doesn’t put weight on a title that came with unfulfilled expectations last year.
“(Closer is) a title. It’s a perception,” Johnson said. “When it comes down to it, it’s literally just executing the pitch. The perception is — it changes people’s perception. They think, ‘Well this guy does this or that or the other.’ It’s just I think people have that perception just because the finality of what the job entails, you know? It’s win or loss. Game won or not, at the end there’s no safety net.”
He hasn’t needed a safety net in the second half. Bullpen-mate Luis Avilan is thrilled for Johnson, who he said amazes him with his tireless effort in the gym and on the mound.
“You guys have no idea how hard he works, and he deserves it,” Avilan said. “He deserves the season that he’s having … Johnson is one of the first guys that even gets here in the clubhouse — always. And it’s kind of like an example for me because that guy, he’s been an All-Star, he’s been a really good closer and he’s a veteran. I (see) him as a role model.”
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