Without ever playing in the lower leagues, a top pitching prospect will go straight to the main leagues.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday that the Los Angeles Angels, who were impressed with pitcher Ryan Johnson during spring training, are promoting him to their big league club. During spring training, Johnson made six appearances and pitched 11.1 innings while striking out 10 batters. Despite giving up home runs in back-to-back appearances, he recorded a 3.97 ERA and is on his way to the big club.
The Angels drafted Johnson in the second round last year out of Dallas Baptist with the No. 74 overall pick. Johnson had a breakout season as a junior in 2024 with DBU and went 11-2 with a 2.21 ERA. He was a compensatory pick the team received in return for losing Shohei Ohtani in free agency.
Johnson has a funky delivery where he doesn’t do a typical leg kick during his windup.
Johnson is the latest player the Angels have fast-tracked to the big leagues.
The Angels drafted Zach Neto in the first round in 2022 and called him up to the majors very quickly in 2023. He was their everyday shortstop last season and played well. They drafted Nolan Schanuel No. 11 overall in 2023 and called him up to the majors that same year after he had spent just 22 games in the minors. The Angels drafted relief pitcher Ben Joyce in 2022 and had him in the big leagues the following season.
The last player to skip the minors and go straight to MLB was Garrett Crochet, who made his MLB debut in the shortened 2020 season. Now it’s Johnson joining that group.
