Josh Johnson did something that has never been done before in the month of April. In doing so, he proved himself to be the hardest to hit pitcher for the month, ever. At least during the Modern Era.
Johnson allowed 18 hits in 41 innings in his six starts in April, the fewest hits allowed in that month in the modern era (1900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That beats out Nolan Ryan, who allowed 19 in 1978. That is based on a minimum of 40 innings pitched.
Now, JJ, only made two road starts during that time, and some folks have told us that JJ is only effective when pitching at home. (I'm being harsh about that assessment.) However, in his two road starts during April, he only gave up a total of six hits. In other words, three per contest and five of the total were on Saturday when he couldn't get into a rhythm. But fought through it.
The thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that, JJ is different pitcher now than he was earlier in his career. Early in his career he relied mostly on his fastball, now he throws more breaking pitches. What it amounts to is JJ has made the transition from a thrower into a pitcher.
Yes, he is throwing his fastball about as often as last season, which is less than previous seasons, but he has changed his repertoire and so far, it is working.