Tampa Bay Rays set to sign Dan Johnson as knuckleballer
By Turner Smith
Dan Johnson could return to the Tampa Bay Rays in a very different role – a knuckleball pitcher.
Knuckleballing is an art that comes to the lucky, and can save careers. It can give rebirth to the dreams of players that seem to have little hope of reaching the big leagues as it did for Tim Wakefield, and apparently it can get old players new contracts.
Dan Johnson, a 35-year-old, ten-year MLB veteran corner infielder and outfielder, is expected to soon sign a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays as a knuckleball pitcher. This idea has apparently been in the back pocket of Johnson for several years, having thrown several bullpens for the New York Yankees in 2013 and having thrown a knuckleball all his life.
“I’ve been throwing it my whole life. It’s one of those things I’ve done forever, and it’s gotten better and better. This is the first time I’ve actually taken it to the next step of going through the process of being a pitcher,” Johnson said in an interview with Bill Chastain of MLB.com.
And what makes this better? Johnson is returning to the Rays for this experiment, where he’s remembered for one of the biggest home runs the Rays have had in the last decade: his game tying shot in the bottom of the ninth in the famous Game 162 that sent the Rays to the playoffs in 2011.
What better place for this experiment than Tampa Bay? But just because it is an experiment, that doesn’t mean that it’s not being taken seriously. Johnson’s commitment to the challenge is apparent in the sense that he would have a much better chance of getting playing time at the major league level as a hitter, having success of late with the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals, but he’s signed as a pitcher. That means working his way up from the minors.
“I’m into it. It’s completely up to the Rays how they want to work it. I’m coming in with an open mind. Send me to the Dominican League, I don’t care,” Johnson said.
Could this really work though?
Well, we have one player to which we can compare Johnson, although it’s not the exact same situation. Tim Wakefield, as previously mentioned, transformed himself into a career knuckleball pitcher while in the minor leagues after struggling as a first baseman and having been told by a scout that he would never make it above Double-A with his skill set at first base.
Johnson, obviously, has had a little more success as a position player than Wakefield did, but if there’s one thing that Wakefield showed us, it’s that the knuckleball has the power to revive and extend careers.
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There’s no guarantee that this transition will be successful for Johnson, but he’s no stranger to performing well in the face of challenges. Johnson has a knuckleball already, he just has to develop it. At 35 years of age, Johnson has more to gain than he has to lose by taking this challenge head-on, and if there’s a guy that could pull this off, it’s Johnson.