Madson’s comeback inspired by teen righty

SEATTLE — Ryan Madson pulls out his phone and scrolls down his contacts. He stops at one, “Lil Johnny,” and smiles.

Madson knows that the comeback to Major League Baseball after four seasons outside those lines, the World Series ring he so improbably earned with the Royals in 2015, the three-year, $22 million contract he signed with Oakland last offseason, the trust A’s manager Bob Melvin has in him right now as his team’s closer … probably none of it happens without Lil Johnny.

He’s Johnny Morell, now an 18-year-old right-handed pitcher for Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz. He’s 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, he threw a no-hitter in a March prep game, he’s committed to Grand Canyon University, he has a fastball that’s reached 94 mph and he could get selected in the MLB Draft in June.

Madson met Morell in Temecula, Calif., where Madson was hanging out at home in February 2014, being a husband to Sarah and father to five children and hardly ever thinking about the Majors after a blown-up elbow had sabotaged what had been a dynamic career at the game’s highest level.

“I was just drained, spent,” Madson said. “I had lost the passion for the game, and honestly, didn’t think I’d ever get it back. But Johnny and I talk about this a lot … we found each other for a reason.”

Madson rose to prominence in the …

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