James Robert Johnson (born June 27, 1983) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher.

Johnson was an All-Star in 2012 and won the Rolaids Relief Man Award that year while leading MLB in saves.

[1] He made his major league debut on July 29, 2006 against the Chicago White Sox, allowing eight earned runs in three innings for the loss.

[3] Johnson began the 2008 season in the Triple-A Norfolk Tides starting rotation, but was called up to the Orioles on April 12.

[11] On September 21, 2012, Johnson set the Orioles' all-time single season save record at 46, passing Randy Myers.

With the win, Baltimore clinched a postseason berth, and Johnson became the 10th pitcher in MLB history to record 50 saves or more.

[14] Johnson had a mediocre postseason debut through four games in the 2012 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.

[16] Johnson pitched again in Game 3 in the Bronx and surrendered a game-tying home run to Raúl Ibañez with one out in the ninth inning.

The deal was considered to be a salary dump by the Orioles, since Johnson was projected to make $10.8 million in baseball arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

[20] Johnson's first season with the A's began poorly, as he earned a blown save and two losses in his first two appearances with the club.

After five appearances and an ERA of 18.90, Johnson was pulled from the closer role on April 11, in favor of fellow relievers such as Luke Gregerson and Sean Doolittle.

[27] Johnson, who had been the set-up man for most of the year, was called on to be the closer after Jason Grilli was injured on July 11, two days before the All-Star break.

[3] On July 30, 2015, in a three-team trade, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Johnson, Mat Latos, Michael Morse, Bronson Arroyo, Alex Wood, Luis Avilán, and José Peraza, while the Miami Marlins acquired minor league pitchers Victor Araujo, Jeff Brigham, and Kevin Guzman, and the Braves received Héctor Olivera, Paco Rodriguez, minor league pitcher Zachary Bird and a competitive balance draft pick for the 2016 MLB draft.