Red Sox: Brian Johnson has proven he can be a reliable fifth starter

The Boston Red Sox have all but confirmed that they are going to use an opener if there’s a season, and Brian Johnson is the perfect man for the job.

It’s no secret that the Red Sox will most likely be instituting the opener for the 2020 season. With several of their veteran pitchers out of the picture and a near-zero influx of incoming talent, there isn’t much option. We’ve seen some teams execute the opener system to perfection, just look at Chaim Bloom’s former squad, they wrote the book on it.

It’ll be something new for the Red Sox and interim manager Ron Roenicke, but with Bloom, at the helm, they have a good chance at success. So who should get the call to take the hill to start that fifth day? In my mind, the perfect answer to that question is lefty Brian Johnson.

I know many of you may scoff at that notion as Johnson hasn’t always been the most consistent but he does offer reliability. That may sound like a bit of a confusing process as those two phrases are polar opposites, but hear me out. This is a rotation that was once dominated by southpaws but is now righty heavy, adding another lefty will bring balance to the force.

Last season was Johnson’s worst since being called up in 2015, but the two years in between, he got the job done. Let’s take a look at his numbers:

2015: 0-1/8.31 ERA/4.1 IP/1.615 WHIP

2017: 2-0/4.33 ERA/37 IP/1.481 WHIP

2018: 4-5/4.17 ERA/99.1 IP/1.430 WHIP

2019: 1-3/6.02 ERA/40.1 IP/1.884 WHIP

He stayed within a range but 2019 saw that get thrown right out the window. A decrease in innings couple with some injury woes saw his number tank pretty quickly. I look at 2018 as a more accurate depiction of what Johnson is capable of when healthy and available. If he’s at full health for 2020 and is set to start every fifth day, I really think he can shine.

Having an opener can be a blessing and a curse as it isn’t a full-proof system. It can boost your odds by keeping the other team on their toes with the frequent subbing of pitchers, but it can also kill your bullpen. Especially if the manager has had to dip into his reserves a little too heavily in the previous games.

Johnson doesn’t need to go out there and throw 6+ innings, though I’m sure he’d love to, he just has to give the team a chance to win. If that means 4-5 innings and then turning the ball over to his pen mates, then that’s what needs to be done.

The righty isn’t on the 40-man roster at this point but with Chris Sale going down due to Tommy John surgery, there’s a vacancy with his name on it. At this point, we’re looking at a heavily condensed season as we’ve already lost close to a month of the 2020 campaign. This could also add to Johnson’s success for this season as it offers less opportunity for wear and tear on his body.