oriole decision day on steve johnson nears

[omarrahman]

24 year old steve johnson[arguably norfolks best starter] faces a big decision on june 1st. if he is not satisfied with his place in the oriole organization, he can pack his bags and move on. if the o's do not put johnson on the 40 man roster by june 1st, he can opt out of his contract. while not overpowering[89-91], johnson has a diverse repertoire, and has moved steadily through every level of the minor leagues. he is in the top ten in most of the important pitching categories[whip#3, era#9, 3-1 k to walk ratio] in the international league. he has been on the 7 day disabled list and missed one start[groin] but has shown durability during his 8 years in the minors. do the orioles consider him a career minor leaguer or will they give him a shot with an elevation to the 40 man roster? the answer will come on friday.

[bmore_ken]

He's done nothing special. If he wants to leave, cya.

[NCBirdfan]

He's done nothing special. If he wants to leave, cya.

I disagree with him not doing anything special. He is definitely not a front-of-the-rotation starter, but he has consistency and would be very useful if used properly. He has worked on lowering his free passes in recent years (of course, last year was a horrible one for him). I do agree, however, that if he leaves, that is his call and we should not fret over it.

[omarrahman]

I disagree with him not doing anything special. He is definitely not a front-of-the-rotation starter, but he has consistency and would be very useful if used properly. He has worked on lowering his free passes in recent years (of course, last year was a horrible one for him). I do agree, however, that if he leaves, that is his call and we should not fret over it.

i am not fretting it. berken, tillman, and numerous others have had oppurtunities and failed. they must believe johnson at 24, with good stats at triple a this year is not going to help them, if they let him walk without giving him a try. as poor as the pitching has been lately, they may still decide to give him a start at some period, but they have to put him on the 40 man friday. maybe no one will want him and he stays anyway. hammel is pitching hurt, hunter has been getting shelled, and arrieta has been bad since a fast start. id keep him. hopefully britton comes back strong, matusz continues his improvement, and chen can get through a baltimore summer. if not the o's will fade quickly. i study the minor league info daily and there is not much help coming anytime soon in the starting pitching category[ or at any other positions].

[Bowie-Bruce]

He's done nothing special. If he wants to leave, cya.

Evidently, you haven't looked at his statistics from this season. A WHIP under 1 and OBA of .191 is pretty solid.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...pbp&pid=489002

[omarrahman]

Evidently, you haven't looked at his statistics from this season. A WHIP under 1 and OBA of .191 is pretty solid.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...pbp&pid=489002

having watched johnson through hs and followed his career over milb.com for years, ive noticed that after he settles into "the next level" he has become very good at each level. his struggles last year at AAA were early in the year. he pitched well later in the season and has started with an all star quality performance beginning 2012. ive talked with people around the game and the misconception is that he is older than 24. this is probably because he began his minor league career as a 17 yr old. he will not blow out the radar gun, but with the addition of a splitter this year, he now has 5 effective pitches if you count the 4seam and 2 seam as 2 different fastballs. if the birds dont add him to the 40 man, my guess is he will fly the coop. he is certainly more diverse and skilled than his old man was, and he stuck around the majors for 5 years, with a couple of good seasons.