In 2025, Pierce Johnson appeared in 65 games for Atlanta, posting a 3.05 ERA. During his 59.0 innings with the Braves last season, he allowed 52 hits, eight home runs, walked 19 (two were intentional) and struck out 59 batters. He had a career-low groundball rate of 33% on the season, compared to a career-best groundball rate of 54% he had with San Diego in 2022. His walk rate was by car the lowest of his career in 2025, although his strikeout rate was also the lowest of his career among seasons in which he played full-time in the major leagues (it was lower in 2018 when he threw 43.2 innings for the San Francisco Giants).
Johnson, a first-round pick in 2012, has had an interesting journey to where he is today. He didn’t make his debut until he was 26 years old and that season saw him make one appearance. He spent the new year splitting time between the major leagues and Triple-A, where his ERA with the Giants was 5.56. In the following season he played in Japan. He would return the following year and it was his first time playing in the big league all year, but that was also the 2020 season and he only threw 20.0 innings that season. His first full season in the major leagues didn’t come until he was 30 years old in 2021.
Since returning from Japan in 2020, he has pitched quite well, with the exception of a half-season with the Colorado Rockies in 2023 when his ERA was 6.00 in 39.0 innings. He was traded to Atlanta at the trade that year and had an ERA of 0.76 in 24 games for the rest of the season. Since the start of 2020, he has appeared in 292 games and had a 3.52 ERA while striking out 341 batters with 118 walks in 271.0 innings.
He was quite good against right-handed hitters last season, holding them to a .231/.250/.372 line with three walks and 40 strikeouts. Lefties were much better against him, as they hit .255/.364/.436 with 16 walks and 19 strikeouts. Two years ago, the splits were the other way around, with the lefties posting just a .632 OPS against him with 11 walks and 35 strikeouts, while the righties had a .719 OPS with 14 walks and 32 strikeouts. The more recent data is more valuable, but it is difficult to determine why the two years were so different.
Throughout his career, Pierce Johnson has thrown backwards and the past two seasons have been at the extreme. In 2024, he threw his curveball 71% of the time. Last season that rose to 72%. He also threw his fastball less often than ever, not only because he threw the curve so often, but he also added the occasional cutter to the mix (only 5% of the time).
You can view his career stats here.
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