Padres News: Josh Johnson Rehab Cut Short…Again

I feel as if I have written this exact same post before – but Josh Johnson of the San Diego Padres had to cut his Friday night rehab start cut short due to discomfort. At this point this latest setback seemed like a formality as it had become clear that he would most likely not be able to come back and help the Padres this season.

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The thought that Josh Johnson could come back and help this team was a nice one. After all, he signed a $8M last season and didn’t pitch at all, so he gave the Padres a discount on his price tag with an incentive-laden $1M deal that of course now he will not even begin to make any strides for. The next question of course now after missing 2+ seasons is if he will continue trying to rehab and all and make it back to the majors?

The rehab start was cut short after 4 pitches according to the UT’s Jeff Sanders.

Mark Prior – another promising pitcher at one point, battled on for several seasons with no success- and you wonder if the 31-year-old Johnson would be able to just cut any further rehab short. As the Padres continue to suffer the reality of Tommy John surgery and the length of time it takes to recover, they have been relatively lucky with their pitchers health this season.

Andrew Cashner – though he did not have the kind of season he would’ve liked to have – did not get injured for once. Tyson Ross had a healthy season and of late has been pitching some of his best baseball. James Shields has given up lots of gopher balls but has stayed on the field. He has held true to his charge of leading the team in innings pitched and at 176 1/3 innings pitched seems on pace for another 200+ innings season. Ross is second at 165 and Cashner third at 156.

Johnson was envisioned to begin with as a potential late-season replacement or reliever who could make a spot start to spell one of the big four starters as the Padres hoped they would be in the midst of a tense pennant race. That dream – like Josh Johnson as a San Diego Padre – seems to be over for 2015.

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