Josh Johnson has a 3.40 ERA in parts of nine big-league seasons, a number that would rank him 11th among active pitchers if the "active" part wasn't such a struggle for him to attain.
But Johnson apparently will keep trying. Though he hasn't pitched in a major-league game since 2013 and, in fact, has faced only one batter in any kind of game over the last two seasons, the right-hander will have a third Tommy John surgery in an attempt to save his career, CBS Sports reports.
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The 31-year-old has been under contract with the Padres the last two seasons but has yet to throw a pitch for San Diego. He underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery for the second time last April and had just reached the point where he felt like he could pitch in games again when everything derailed.
Johnson got the start Sept. 3 for Single-A Lake Elsinore and left after throwing four pitches and allowing a hit to the only man he faced. The Padres said two days later Johnson had been shut down and would meet with Dr. James Andrews, who performed his first elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2007 and the second in 2014.
According to CBS, Johnson is likely to go under the knife for a third time next week.
It's difficult to imagine another procedure allowing Johnson to approach the form he had in 2010, when his 2.30 ERA for the Marlins led the NL, but the two-time All-Star obviously isn't ready to quit.
“He’s a little frustrated, but he’s a positive guy,” Padres assistant general manager Fred Uhlman Jr. told the San Diego Union-Tribune recently. “He clearly wants to pitch and hopefully can come back from this and recover and continue his career. He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve had on this club in terms of a guy trying to come back. If there is anybody who can do this and come back from it, Josh would be the guy.”
