Nick Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Washington Nationals — No. 24 | |
| First base | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| August 21, 2001 for the New York Yankees | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
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| Avg | .272 |
| HR | 76 |
| RBI | 297 |
| Former teams | |
Nicholas Robert (Nick) Johnson (born September 19, 1978 in Sacramento, California) is a first baseman in Major League Baseball, currently with the Washington Nationals.
He previously played with the New York Yankees between 2001 and 2003, and with the Montreal Expos in 2004. Johnson is known for his patience at the plate and extreme discipline, leading to a high on-base percentage. Johnson is also not a dead pull hitter, and can hit the ball to the opposite field with authority.
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[edit] Family
He is the nephew of former Philadelphia Phillies manager, and current Yankee third base coach, Larry Bowa.
[edit] Minor league career
In 1998 he batted .317/.466/.538 with 17 home runs in 303 at bats for Tampa.
In 1999 he was an All-Star for Norwich, and batted .345/.525/.548 with 37 HBP and 123 walks in 420 official at bats.
He participated in the 1999 and 2001 Futures Game during All-Star Weekend, playing for the United States team.
Johnson has a .446 lifetime minor league OBP.
[edit] Major league career
Johnson — when healthy — in 2003 with the Yankees hit .284/.422/.472. While he didn’t play from May 15 to July 25 because of a hand injury, he ranked ninth among first baseman in RARP — a derivative of equivalent average (EqA)— which is a counting statistic. Only 4 of the hitters ahead of him — Carlos Delgado, Todd Helton, Jason Giambi and Jim Thome— had a better EqA; the other 4 simply played more than Johnson. (To achieve a career reputation as a truly great player, however, may well require him to accrue more time on the field; he is now numbered among the better hitters even with his missed time.) Expanding beyond his position, he would have tied with Edgar Martinez for the 17th best EqA in baseball. He was 24 for all but the last few weeks of the season.
After the 2003 season, the Yankees traded him, along with Juan Rivera and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos for Javier Vazquez.
In 2004, his first, and, as it turned out, last season with the Montreal Expos (because of their relocation to Washington at the end of the season), injuries struck again. He could not play until May 28 because of a back injury, and struggled after initial success. By the time his season was ended by a ball hit to first that took a bad hop and broke his cheekbone, he was down to a .251/.359/.398 line. The back injury was another troubling sign regarding his fragility; in addition, the year was a disappointment as far as his hitting was concerned.
2005: With the new Washington Nationals, Johnson compiled a performance more reminiscent of his 2003 season than of his injury-riddled 2004 campaign. He hit .289/.408 (sixth best in the league)/.479, and had a .478 OBP with runners in scoring position. Johnson batted cleanup for most of the season, despite the fact that he has a much higher OBP than the third place hitter on the team — Jose Guillen — and Guillen had more raw power, which would come in handy when Johnson is on base over 40% of the time.
2006: Johnson hit .290/.428 (4th best in the league)/.520, in his best year so far. He was second in the NL in walk percentage (18.0%),[1] third in walks (110), seventh in doubles (46) and intentional walks (15), and tenth in times hit by pitch (13). He had a .454 OBP with runners in scoring position. Johnson had his worst season to date in the field, however, with 15 errors. On September 23, he fractured his right femur in a collision with Washington right fielder Austin Kearns.
Lifetime, with the bases loaded, he has a .385 batting average and .468 obp, with 39 RBI in 39 at bats.
[edit] Patience
A major part of his game, as illustrated by the number of walks he gets, is seeing a lot of pitches, which leads to the pitcher tiring. In 2003, 2004, and 2006 he saw 4.28 pitches per plate appearance in each year. In '05 he saw 4.00. In a typical year, the average P/PA will be in the mid to upper 3's.
[edit] Contract Extension
Just before the 2006 began, Nick signed a 3-year, 16.5 million dollar extension, with a trade clause after the second year.
[edit] Injury
On September 23, 2006, playing against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, Johnson and right fielder Austin Kearns collided while making attempting to catch a fly ball. Johnson sustained a broken femur and underwent surgery that night to repair the injury. Although it has been reported that the surgery was successful and it was hoped that he should be ready to play for the 2007 season,[2] at the beginning of 2007 it was considered unlikely that he would be able to participate in Spring Training or to play on Opening Day.[3]
[edit] Awards
- 1996 - 2nd team High School All-American 1B
- 1999 - Double-A All-Star 1B
- 1999 - NY Yankees Minor League Player of the Year
- 1999 - Eastern League All-Star 1B
- 2002 - Topps All-Star rookie team
[edit] External links
- Baseball Prospectus: Nick Johnson
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
