D. J. Johnson (baseball)


Daniel Stuart Johnson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball. He has previously played for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball.

Amateur career

Johnson attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon. He attended Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon for two years. He then attended Western Oregon University in 2010. An injury kept him from pitching that season, and poor grades limited him to just 11 games played as a position player.

Professional career

Undrafted after his junior year of college, Johnson signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on June 24, 2010, after being noticed by a scout at a local American Legion exhibition game. He played for the GCL Rays in 2010. He was released by the Rays on April 20, 2011. He then signed and played for the Traverse City Beach Bums of the independent baseball Frontier League, until signing a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 5, 2011. He spent the 2011 through 2013 seasons in the Arizona system, playing for the South Bend Silver Hawks and the Visalia Rawhide. Johnson did not appear in a game in 2013; instead rehabbing a torn Teres Major muscle, that occurred during the 2012 season. Johnson was released by Arizona after the 2013 season, and again played for Traverse City to start the 2014 season. He signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins on July 28, 2014 and remained in their system through the 2015 season. He played for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Chattanooga Lookouts while with the Twins. He signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins on November 24, 2015, but was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the Triple A phase of the 2015 Rule 5 draft on December 10, 2015. He played for the Arkansas Travelers in 2016.

Colorado Rockies

He became a free agent after the 2016 season and signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies on November 18, 2016. He spent the 2017 season with the Hartford Yard Goats. Johnson spent the 2018 minor league season with the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Johnson was called up to the major leagues for the first time on September 4, 2018 and made he debut five days later on September 9th.
In 2019, Johnson made the Rockies opening day roster. Johnson was released by the Rockies on October 23, 2019 to seek an opportunity in Japan.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

On October 25, 2019, Johnson signed a one-year contract with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Personal life

After the 2016 season, Johnson was not offered a contract by the Angels, and he worked at a lumber yard that offseason before being signed by the Rockies.