OK, joke’s over.
Brian Johnson has had an incredible run of bad luck since being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2012, earning him an unflattering nickname and casting uncertainty over his major league future. But Johnson’s fortunes seem to be changing this spring.
For one, the left-hander finally is enjoying himself again.
“It’s always a running joke, even with my buddies at home, that if anything bad is going to happen, it’s going to happen to me,” Johnson told reporters earlier this week in Fort Myers, Fla., per WEEI.com. “I think Dane Cook actually did a thing on ‘Bad Luck Brian’ or something. It’s along those lines.
“It just kind of feels like the stars are aligning (this spring). I’m excited. Baseball is fun. That’s the biggest thing. At one point in time, it wasn’t fun. It was a drag coming to the field. I’m excited to come to the field every day.”
Johnson could crack the Red Sox’s Opening Day rotation with Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright all dealing with injuries during spring training. He’s out of minor league options, too, so in some ways, this represented a make-or-break camp for the 27-year-old southpaw. And he’s responded by performing well, even striking out 10 of 16 batters he faced Tuesday in a minor league camp game on one of the back fields at JetBlue Park, according to The Boston Globe.
“You see the writing on the wall,” Johnson said, per WEEI.com. “Obviously, the no-options thing matters. But you know, with a couple guys being down, you know you kind of sense it — this is the time to kind of seize the opportunity. You kind of see that. That’s the biggest thing for me.”
So, where exactly did the whole “Bad Luck Brian” thing come from? Well, take your pick.
Johnson took a line drive off the face in August 2012 while pitching for the Lowell Spinners in the Futures at Fenway event. He then dealt with elbow discomfort in 2015, which cost him an opportunity to compete for a rotation spot, and was the victim of a carjacking the following offseason. And if that wasn’t enough, Johnson missed time with anxiety and depression in 2016, causing him to consider retirement, and took another line drive off the head in 2017. “Bad luck” is an understatement.
Yet here we are, two weeks away from the Red Sox’s first game of the 2018 season and Johnson figures to have a meaningful role with the club. It’s unclear what the Red Sox will do once all of their starters are healthy — perhaps Johnson will transition to the bullpen — but they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it. For now, Johnson is focused on the current opportunity, which once seemed like a long shot given all he’s been through.
“You always want to have goals,” Johnson said of making Boston’s 25-man roster, per WEEI.com. “Every spring your goal is to strive to be who you want to be. In that sense, it’s the rotation. So, yeah, I would say I don’t want to assume I’m in the rotation, but my goal is to make the rotation.”
No, this is not a joke. “Bad Luck” Brian finally is shedding the label.
