Johnson looking to make most of second shot with Sox
When Micah Johnson was demoted to Class AAA Charlotte on May 14, general manager Rick Hahn mentioned how former Chicago White Sox stars Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand experienced similar fates as young players.
Johnson is getting another shot with the Sox after being called up from Charlotte on Tuesday, and he is hoping to make the most of it.
"Just be out there and show them what I've been working on for the past couple months," said Johnson, who wasn't in the starting lineup against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. "Show that I'm healthy and play the game that I'm used to playing. That's playing fast, with energy, and having fun."
Johnson hit .270 in 27 games with the White Sox before being sent down, and he hit .315 in 78 games with Charlotte.
The bat is not the problem.
As he showed early in his first major-league season, Johnson is far from a polished defensive second baseman. He likes to play a fast-paced, high-energy game, but he frequently froze when trying to turn double plays or even make routine throws to first base.
Like Crede and Rowand, Johnson initially failed to get settled. It happens to a lot of young players.
"I think at the beginning of the year I kind of got in trouble trying to do too much, trying to think too much," said the 24-year-old Indianapolis native. "When you get sent down you kind of have no pressure, you just play. And that's what you want to translate up here, to just go off your instincts."
While Carlos Sanchez has been a standout defensive second baseman since taking over for Johnson, he doesn't have the same offensive skills.
Time will tell if Johnson has improved with the glove and is ready to push his way back into the Sox' starting lineup.
"You don't ever want to get sent down," Johnson said. "You don't want to - I guess, not fail - but you don't want to hear you never did a good enough job.
"It's tough to hear, but at the same time you understand what you need to work on. It was pretty well understood it wasn't an offensive move. It was for me to work on some things defensively that I needed to work on. I respect their decision and I went down there and worked on those things."