Brian Johnson battling anxiety — baseball on hiatus
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Right now, it is safe to say pitching is not the first thing on Brian Johnson’s mind.
The Red Sox pitching prospect, who had been with the PawSox, was placed on the temporarily inactive list and the consensus seems to be that he is on there to deal with anxiety.
Brian Johnson placed on temporary inactive list to seek treatment for anxiety while continuing non-game activities in Fort Myers #redsox
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) May 21, 2016
There seemed to be a problem with Johnson this month because he was 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA in three starts this month. It upped his ERA to 4.64 in seven starts after going 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts. He even appeared to be a viable call up option because he works at a quick pace, throws harder than Henry Owens and can command his pitches.
Johnson appeared as though he would join the Red Sox rotation last season. But he sustained injury before his first (and only) MLB start. So his job was given to Henry Owens, the tall lefty who throws 88 MPH for balls.
From the looks of it, Johnson will be receiving treatment down in Florida for his demons because like Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of baseball his half mental”.
But yeah, Johnson is a talented prospect. But he has to be in his right mind to pitch well. To put it this way, he had walked 19 men in his last 22.2 innings. That’s not the Brian Johnson we all know.
There are already people doubting Johnson because of the action.
Gotta think if Brian Johnson can't control his anxiety in Triple-A, any chance of him handling the pressure in Boston is a long shot.
— Forrest Mulheron (@ForrestM207) May 21, 2016
Boston is a pretty high-pressure environment to play in for even established big leaguers. The Sox have signed a lot of high profile guys that straight up did not work out in Boston, so this Forrest guy (is that even a name?), or whoever the hell he is (friend, enemy, acquaintance or complete stranger) has a point.
Well this puts me in an awkward spot because he mentioned long shot and I already made a reference to that last week. But in case you forgot, Katy Perry actually wrote the song for Kelly Clarkson so here’s that version. If you haven’t heard the Kelly Clarkson version by now, it’s too late: you’ve had seven years.
This one’s better anyways:
Well, this has nothing to do with Brian Johnson anymore so I’ll stop now.