Ryan Johnson's situation might be Angels' most egregious development failure yet

The Los Angeles Angels aren't known for their stellar player development practices. The club's inability to develop young talent has been one of the key issues that has led to LA being stuck in baseball purgatory in recent years. While there have been many head-scratchers over the years, their handling of Ryan Johnson takes the cake.

When the Angels selected Johnson, he felt like a safe prospect. His 6-foot-6 frame gave him an ideal canvas to create an impact starting pitcher. His five-pitch repertoire gave him the tools to make you believe. His wealth of collegiate experience at Dallas Baptist University provided hope that he could be a fast riser.

His ceiling was great, but his floor was also very high. Johnson finished his amateur career as his school's all-time strikeout leader. His herky-jerky delivery might've put a damper on his ability to succeed as a starter, but it created a deception that could've helped him thrive as a major league reliever.

Of course, he was also the Angels' compensation for losing Shohei Ohtani in free agency. The club's failure to capitalize on Ohtani's market at the 2023 trade deadline brought added pressure for the Halos to get something good out of that comp pick. After using the selection on Johnson, they clearly lost their minds.

The Angels might have already broken Ryan Johnson

Last season, the Angels decided to make Johnson the 24th player ever to go straight from the draft to the major leagues. Unlike the NFL or NBA, present-day need rarely factors into MLB Draft selections, but in the case of Johnson, Los Angeles was clearly thinking about how the right-hander could help the team immediately.

This is baffling step No. 1. By including Johnson on the 2025 Opening Day roster, the Angels were trying to fill a hole in their bullpen and used him immediately as a high-leverage option. Forget player development. This was a nonsensical decision from the start because of the disparity of value between a reliever and a starter, even if it would take more time to mold Johnson into a competent starter than a useful bullpen piece.

When that inevitably didn't work, the Angels sent Johnson down to High-A Tri City, where he should have started all along. There, Johnson returned to starting and dominated with a 1.88 ERA. Had he begun the season there, he likely would've risen fast.

Over the offseason, there was a thought that Johnson could factor into the big league rotation in 2026. That he did. Immediately. Los Angeles decided that he was ready to be part of their season-opening starting rotation. Injuries to Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah may have contributed to the decision, and again, we ask whether it was the right call.

Johnson quickly fell prey to a hamstring strain and a viral infection, limiting what we could see. He'd return from the IL with significantly reduced velocity, dropping from 94 miles per hour to 90 on his sinker. He'd also have a new role -- mop-up man.

That was short-lived, though, as the Angels quickly sent him down again, this time to Double-A Rocket City.

The Angels have done crazy things before. They've rapidly promoted players like Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, and Christian Moore, all to varying degrees of success (or failure). They've handled pitchers weirdly, like their insistence on using Sam Aldegheri and Caden Dana as bullpen shuttle arms rather than treating them like the prized pitching prospects they supposedly were.

The malfeasance with Johnson, however, is next level. Theoretically, he could be on the verge of becoming a rotation stalwart at this point with a little luck and a normal development trajectory. However, the haphazard decisions the club has made ensured that wouldn't happen.

This is their Shohei Ohtani compensation, and rather than treating him like gold, they've acted as if there was never any sort of plan to develop him. He's still only 23-years-old, but the inconsistency and chaos the team has created for him may have already ruined him.

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