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Here was the conundrum facing Josh Johnson: Physically, he felt great even though his stat lines screamed lousy. Nothing hurt, but something wasn't quite right and precluding him from achieving free and easy.
The tap. The tap!
It's such a subtle part of his delivery that Johnson didn't even realize he'd abandoned it. Before he throws, Johnson taps the ball into his glove. For some inexplicable reason he stopped doing it.
"It's frustrating because I didn't catch it before, but that's part of it," Johnson said. "Sometimes you miss some things and you have to work through some stuff and battle through it. The bullpen session [last week] was a lot better. Everything was just easier. Everything just happened instead of me forcing it to happen."
Friday, Johnson was already on the field playing catch, reminding himself to get his hands started, when pitching coach Randy St. Claire approached him. He saw the same thing on video and pointed it out.
Could it be that simple? Does the missing tap explain 0-2, an 8.38 ERA and less zip on the fastball? Johnson thinks so.
"That had a lot to do with it, with not feeling quite there," Johnson said. "Everything feels good, but not quite there. The ball is just a hair up, maybe an inch or so. That's why balls are getting through instead of being a little bit softer groundballs.
"I'm getting the groundballs I need. I'm not really getting ahead, but that was a big part of it. It's one of those things I don't realize that I do…I was taking the ball straight out of the glove and going straight from there, which is starting and stopping straight from nothing and going…It's been tough to get that rhythm. Hopefully that will kick start me."
Through two outings Johnson has allowed a .488 batting average on balls in play. That's astronomically high and suggests plenty of bad luck. From 2009-'11, his BABIP was .290, .297 and .239, respectively, according to Fangraphs.
Johnson was right in that he's generating enough grounders. His groundball rate is 51.2 percent. Last season it was 51.0 percent. One number that's eyebrow-raising is his line drive percentage. It's up to 36.6 percent compared to 14.8 percent in 2011 and 20.6 percent in 2010.
Catcher John Buck isn't alarmed, saying: "He wasn't leaving his stuff up. He's wasn't hanging it. They just happen to hit it through the cracks. Nobody really put good swings on him. It was the last little oomph, 96 or 97 compared to 93. It is that little added bit to where the jam job maybe blows up the guy's bat or the slider has a little more bite to it.
"There is that last little bit to come before he is the old Josh Johnson. I feel even now, not the first game but the second outing, he pitched good enough to win. He just didn't have luck on his side and we didn't put any runs up for him."
Johnson expressed zero concern about sitting at 91-93 miles per hour with his fastball instead of his usual 94-96. Through two starts, Fangraphs has Johnson's average heater at 92.7 mph. Each of the last three seasons that figure registered between 94.0 and 94.9.
"I think that timing [mechanism] had something to do with it," Johnson said. "I wasn't really unsure when I was pitching, but it didn't feel right, that feeling of everything working and in sync was just off."
Added Buck: "The first thing you back off when things aren't there is your velocity because you'd rather locate. [Hitters] were able to fight and stay in the count more. It was there occasionally. It's sputtering to show up…He's too hard of a worker and too good. It's two games. When he's 15-2 in September we'll all laugh at this."
The tap. The tap!
It's such a subtle part of his delivery that Johnson didn't even realize he'd abandoned it. Before he throws, Johnson taps the ball into his glove. For some inexplicable reason he stopped doing it.
"It's frustrating because I didn't catch it before, but that's part of it," Johnson said. "Sometimes you miss some things and you have to work through some stuff and battle through it. The bullpen session [last week] was a lot better. Everything was just easier. Everything just happened instead of me forcing it to happen."
Friday, Johnson was already on the field playing catch, reminding himself to get his hands started, when pitching coach Randy St. Claire approached him. He saw the same thing on video and pointed it out.
Could it be that simple? Does the missing tap explain 0-2, an 8.38 ERA and less zip on the fastball? Johnson thinks so.
"That had a lot to do with it, with not feeling quite there," Johnson said. "Everything feels good, but not quite there. The ball is just a hair up, maybe an inch or so. That's why balls are getting through instead of being a little bit softer groundballs.
"I'm getting the groundballs I need. I'm not really getting ahead, but that was a big part of it. It's one of those things I don't realize that I do…I was taking the ball straight out of the glove and going straight from there, which is starting and stopping straight from nothing and going…It's been tough to get that rhythm. Hopefully that will kick start me."
Through two outings Johnson has allowed a .488 batting average on balls in play. That's astronomically high and suggests plenty of bad luck. From 2009-'11, his BABIP was .290, .297 and .239, respectively, according to Fangraphs.
Johnson was right in that he's generating enough grounders. His groundball rate is 51.2 percent. Last season it was 51.0 percent. One number that's eyebrow-raising is his line drive percentage. It's up to 36.6 percent compared to 14.8 percent in 2011 and 20.6 percent in 2010.
Catcher John Buck isn't alarmed, saying: "He wasn't leaving his stuff up. He's wasn't hanging it. They just happen to hit it through the cracks. Nobody really put good swings on him. It was the last little oomph, 96 or 97 compared to 93. It is that little added bit to where the jam job maybe blows up the guy's bat or the slider has a little more bite to it.
"There is that last little bit to come before he is the old Josh Johnson. I feel even now, not the first game but the second outing, he pitched good enough to win. He just didn't have luck on his side and we didn't put any runs up for him."
Johnson expressed zero concern about sitting at 91-93 miles per hour with his fastball instead of his usual 94-96. Through two starts, Fangraphs has Johnson's average heater at 92.7 mph. Each of the last three seasons that figure registered between 94.0 and 94.9.
"I think that timing [mechanism] had something to do with it," Johnson said. "I wasn't really unsure when I was pitching, but it didn't feel right, that feeling of everything working and in sync was just off."
Added Buck: "The first thing you back off when things aren't there is your velocity because you'd rather locate. [Hitters] were able to fight and stay in the count more. It was there occasionally. It's sputtering to show up…He's too hard of a worker and too good. It's two games. When he's 15-2 in September we'll all laugh at this."
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