BRIAN JOHNSON HAS BEEN UNREAL...

[Angels]

From Peter Gammons (with emphasis added):

With Jon Lester‘s return to the Red Sox unlikely and Clay Buchholz‘s future a certain uncertainty, it appears that the 2013 World Champion pitching rotation will be nothing but a memory going into the 2015 season. Having said that, there are several ways in which a franchise can go about rebuilding a staff. All of them require the development of at least one or two top prospect arms.

I am sure the Red Sox will scour the market and do whatever they can to fill the rotation with battle tested veteran pitchers. But they will definitely not overlook the value they have in fellow farm hands Henry Owens and Brian Johnson.

Henry Owens should be a household name by now if you are a Red Sox fan looking to the future. Drafted out of high school with the 36th pick in 2011, the 6’6" 21-year-old lefthander has cruised through his first 3 professional seasons. With a 38-16 minor league record and 3.29 ERA, Owens has come on even stronger this year pitching to a 15-5 record with a 2.76 ERA between AA and AAA. His strikeout numbers are down from last year’s 11.3 K/9 to just 9.4 this year. Though that is to be expected when making the jump from A-AA to AA-AAA seasons.

Despite the promotion, Owens has been relatively average of late, recording 4 or more earned runs in 3 of his last 6 starts, while recording less than 2 earned runs in the other 3 starts (5,2,0,4,4,2).

Perhaps the more big league ready prospect, Brain Johnson has had himself a spectacular season for the Portland SeaDogs (AA). Drafted 31st overall in 2012 out of the University of Florida, the 23-year-old has put up a 2.28 ERA through 47 minor league starts. Since getting called up to AA in early May, Johnson has a 10-2 record while putting up a 1.83 ERA through 19 starts.

In his last 5 starts, Johnson has pitched 35.1 innings, brought three 1-hitters into the 7th inning, struck out 36 batters, and given up just 3 earned runs.

Regardless of who you think is the better prospect, the Red Sox will certainly be giving both of these guys a serious look for the remainder of 2014 and into the spring. And unless they can fill that rotation, it may not matter if they are ready or not.