The 2014 Great Lakes Loons produced one of the best bullpen stories that one can imagine. A group of nine relievers pitched 456 innings, gave up 323 hits and 142 walks while striking out 537. Their combined WHIP was just over one per inning at 1.02. Michael Johnson was the only left-hander in the group. During some stretches in 2014 Johnson was the most effective reliever on the staff and along with Jacob Rhame and Victor Araujo was one of the top three on the Loons roster throughout the season. All three had exceptional seasons.

Johnson was born and raised in Georgetown, Massachusetts, a small city located in the far north eastern part of the state. The population of Georgetown is less than 10,000. He attended Brooks School located in nearby North Andover and played baseball for the Brooks School Bishops. He also lettered in cross country running and hockey. He presently is listed as the only graduate of Brooks School to be playing for a professional baseball team.

Following his graduation he enrolled as an economics major at Dartmouth College – the prestigious Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire – and consistently earned a place on the dean’s list.

His first three baseball seasons with the Big Green at Dartmouth, beginning in 2010, were not without their challenges for Johnson but he was not one to give up. “Things didn’t go as well as I’d like my freshman and sophomore years — I was still struggling to make adjustments,” said the 22-year-old Johnson, a 6-foot, 180-pound southpaw. “But I kept at it, and knew what I had to do to be successful.”

Johnson went to work improving his flexibility which he felt would help him repeat his delivery with consistency. His hard work paid early dividends in his senior year. He went 7-0 with a 1.82 ERA while striking out 47 and walking only 13 in 59 innings. He gave up only 43 hits and helped the Big Green to their fourth consecutive Ivy League Championship game.

Utilizing his fastball, slider, and changeup, Johnson led the league in wins.

His coach, long time Dartmouth coach Bob Whalen, said he most appreciated Johnson’s ability to pitch late into grueling conference games which were crunched into 10 doubleheaders over the course of five weekends. “He was 4-0 in Ivy games and started every weekend. You really can’t do much better than that,” Whalen said. “He gave us a chance to win every time he took the ball and got deep into the game. Having a guy who throws strikes and having a guy to get you deep was a luxury.”

In an interview with By Dom Nicastro / Wicked Local Georgetown – News from the Georgetown Record – coach Whalen explained that Johnson didn’t blossom overnight but just got better each season culminating in his stellar 2013 season.

Whalen continued: “His curveball metamorphosed this season into more of a cutter/slider type of pitch (darting more “across” the plate versus a straight curveball that carries a “top to bottom” flight), and it made life that much tougher for opposing hitters.”

“More than anything else, Michael continued to work on his strength and flexibility and made some good gains in that area,” Whalen said. “He got more repetitions in the summer which allowed him to command his fastball better this year. He did a much more consistent job at being able to throw to both sides of the plate at the bottom of the strike zone this year.”

Whalen concluded: “I’m confident someone will give him an opportunity at the next level. He’s a kid who had a lot of room to grow and a lot of potential, and he maximized it.”

Johnson got that opportunity as the Dodgers selected him in the 14th round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft.

Shortly after being drafted Johnson reported to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Rookie League and made his first appearance on June 22nd. In his first three games with the Raptors he gave up six earned runs in 3.2 innings. He was then re-assigned to the Arizona League Dodgers where he made four appearances after which he returned to Ogden for the duration of the season. In 17 innings following his return to the Pioneer League he gave up only two earned runs and struck out 28.

Johnson pitched the entire 2014 season with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League. In 64 innings over 50 appearances, all in relief, the 6’1”, 185 lb left-hander posted a 1.83 ERA along with a 1.11 WHIP. He struck out 91 while allowing only 46 hits.

As the 2015 Dodgers minor league rosters were unveiled, Johnson, along with four of his bullpen teammates with the Loons in 2014, was assigned to the A+ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League.

He made his first appearance in the Quakes first game of the 2015 season on Thursday, April 9th and he followed his script from the previous season. In two innings of relief, following a superb effort by starter Jose De Leon, he gave up one hit, walked none and struck out three.

Michael Johnson pitched extremely well in his debut with the Quakes on Thursday night allowing no runs, one hit while walking none and striking out two in his two innings of work.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

ThinkBlueLA writer Ron Cervenka, a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes enthusiast when not covering the Dodgers, sat directly behind the plate during that game. He obviously was pleased and impressed with the outing by Jose De Leon but was surprised by what he saw from behind the plate during Johnson’s two innings. He wrote: “Johnson has a lot of movement on all of his pitches but that slider/curve is flat out unhittable.” Ron will be pleased to know that his diagnosis of the Johnson pitch – “He has a GREAT slurve.” – is pretty much a match with the description provided by the lefty’s Big Green coach Bob Whalen.

It is probably safe to suggest that the 24-year old Johnson will be working his “slurve” with the AA Tulsa Drillers at some point during the 2015 season.