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Is Randy Johnson Back to His Old Dominant Self?

May 16, 2007 – 7:30 PM
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Larry Brown

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Well, the Unit might not be back to his Cy Young form shown in his last stint in the desert, but he has certainly proven that he can dominate a major league lineup. In Johnson's fifth start since returning to the big leagues from off-season back surgery, the Unit shutout the Rockies over six innings grabbing his first win of the year. Johnson only gave up one hit -- a bunt single to Willy Taveras whom he promptly picked off. Johnson faced the minimum 18 batters while striking out 9. This was the second start in a row where Johnson looked dominant for a stretch of time. His previous start against the Phillies, he threw six scoreless innings before loading the bases to have the reliever give up a pinch hit grand slam to Ryan Howard.

The primary concern for Arizona at this point is maintaining a light workload for the Unit. He only threw 79 pitches before manager Bob Melvin yanked him. Johnson doesn't feel he's 100% just yet, but his performance would almost negate that comment. If Randy Johnson can continue to pitch at the level he's shown for 13 of his past 14 innings, you're looking at a team that will be dangerous should they make the playoffs. And with Brandon Webb, Doug Davis, Livan Hernandez, Micah Owings, and now Randy Johnson pitching well in the rotation, we're looking at a Diamondbacks team that's going to be contending all year long.
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