Ty Johnson: "I'll Be in the Bullpen For 13"

Late last night Ty Johnson breathed life into a Rapids team that had been declared doomed without him.

"I'll be available in the bullpen for the Rapids," said Ty. "We're going to start Shawn Godinho at pitcher, but I'm going to give it a go if he struggles."

For the last couple days Ty has been testing out how effective he could be playing through the injury and in the straight leg brace that restricts any bending of his knee. Because of the limitation his windup and throwing motion have been altered to a nearly sidearm style and the speed on his fastball is no where near what it has been in the past. He did not allow for any video to be taken.

Ultimately, Ty is one of the most competitive players in the league. Watching his team likely suffer without him wasn't something he could do, so despite being well below 100% healthy he's inserted himself into the active roster.

It's been a roller coaster off-season for the Rapids. Up until about 3 weeks ago the team was expected to contend for a title in JAL 13, then Ty's knee surgery recovery was worse than expected and he was declared "doubtful." At that point the team's expectations dropped significantly, but now with him back on the active roster, they've risen a bit.

The Rapids have moved up from #9 to #8 in the rankings, but make no mistake, the former MVP healthy or not puts fear into opponents.