“I felt great,” Johnson said. “It felt like old times — even better. When you miss a whole year, it makes you appreciate baseball even more.”
Johnson, 21, was an 11th-round pick out Trinity Christian Academy in Lake Worth, Fla., in 2009. He was 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA with the Gulf Coast League Reds in 2009. He led the Dragons in wins in 2010 and felt fine after the season.
In the spring of 2011, the shoulder started giving him trouble. He rehabbed for a month before he decided the shoulder wasn’t getting better and surgery was the only option.
It wasn’t easy for someone who had never been hurt.
“You want to play. It’s hard to watch,” Johnson said. “You want to be on the mound. It was a learning experience.”
Johnson’s next turn in the rotation comes Wednesday at Lansing.
“I actually feel stronger than I was before,” he said. “Before I was kind of forcing my velocity. Now it seems a little easier. I don’t feel anything in my shoulder. It feels great.”
Slump continues: With a 14-3 loss to Great Lakes at Fifth Third Field on Saturday in the longest nine-inning game of the year (3 hours, 19 minutes), the Dragons fell to 15-28 and 3-15 in May. They’ve lost five in a row at home.
Radhames Quezada started and allowed 5 earned runs in41/3 innings. After giving up more than one earned run twice in his first seven starts, Quezada has allowed eight earned runs in his last two, and he didn’t get past the fourth in either start.
El’Hajj Muhammad (two earned runs in 2/3 innings) and Lucas O’Rear (5 runs in 22/3) also struggled in relief.
Dayton’s offense continued to sputter as well. The Dragons had six hits. They haven’t had more than eight hits in the last seven games.
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