Tommy John surgery often sidelines a pitcher for 18 months, but Florida right-hander Josh Johnson returned from the procedure in a mere 11 months last July. Not only that, he went 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA for the Marlins, recorded his first major league complete game and pitched 10 quality starts in 14 outings.

The 25-year-old Johnson has been even better this spring, at a time most of his Tommy John brethren would have been focusing on simply making their first post-surgery appearance. In two starts, he’s allowed just a single run en route to victories over Washington and the Mets.

On Sunday, Johnson went the distance and bested Mets ace Johan Santana in a 2-1 pitchers duel. Johnson finally allowed his first run of the new season in the ninth, but when he retired Ryan Church for the final out, he had held New York to just five hits and fanned seven Mets. For the season, he’s struck out 15 and walked just one in 15.2 innings.

Johnson’s start suggests he’s returning to the rookie form that generated a 12-7 record and 3.10 ERA in 2006 -- when he was 22 years old. One improvement he’s made since then involves dumping a few miles-per-hour off his slider this spring. He’s now throwing the pitch in the low 80s instead of the high 80s, and it’s made his mid-90s four-seamer all the more devastating.

The National League has a host of terrific young pitching talent, including Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, World Series MVP Cole Hamels, Jair Jurrjens, Yovani Gallardo, Johnny Cueto and the youngest starter in the league, Clayton Kershaw. After missing a year to have his elbow rebuilt, Johnson looks poised to join the league’s young elite.