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84 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED L ate last season, Kyle Johnson would limp into the batter's box, practically dragging along his left leg. It wasn't pretty, looked downright painful. For him, it felt painful, the constant ache, with sharp jolts of near-tear-inducing surges, that were the result of worsening stress fractures in his shin. Yet, there was Johnson, not only laboring through, but clipping off hits at an astounding rate. Purdue's center fielder hit .600 in four of the last five games of the season — he pulled himself out after a flyout early in the finale, when the pain became too much — with five extra base hits, including two triples and a ho- mer, and five runs batted in. "He was limping around, then all the sudden he'd come up there and hit a home run," classmate Jack Pic- chiotti said. "And you're like, 'Wow, I can't wait to see what he's like when he's not hurt.' And hopefully that's what we can see this year." Johnson's sudden development has felt a long-time coming. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound San Diego na- tive oozes athleticism, his long frame, quick first step and solid in- stincts making him one of the Big Ten's best — if not the best — de- fensive outfielders. He has a cannon right arm — so much so that he pitched a little during his freshman season — has good baseball smarts and can run the bases. But hitting, consistently, had been a frustration during his first two-plus seasons. He wasn't bad, hitting at about a .244 clip combined in 2013 and '14, with four homers and 43 driven in, but wasn't good ei- ther. It was his flashes of potential, like his long-ball against San Diego State's All-America closer in 2014 and other fleeting moments, that left a longing for more. But late last year as a junior, Johnson made a couple adjustments — one physical, one mental — each contributing to a change at the plate. During the Michigan State series, in the third-to-last weekend of the sea- son, he dropped his hands lower in his batting stance, a move made in Kyle Johnson was too consumed with the numbers. But once he let that go, relaxed and had fun, the numbers shot up. And he did it all on a bum left leg. The Time Is Now By Kyle Charters Tom Campbell