Saturday, January 21, 2017

DrB's 2017 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #49 Jordan Johnson

Jordan Johnson, RHP.  DOB:  9/15/1993.  6'2", 175 lbs.  Drafted in 2014 Round 13 out of Cal State Northridge.

2016 A+:  8-9, 5.33, 120 IP, 2.93 BB/9, 8.33 K/9, 24 HR.

Jordan Johnson came into the 2106 season riding a wave of excitement over his 2015 performance.  After a 32/1 K/BB in the AZL, he was promoted all the way to San Jose and put up a K/9 of 9.48 against a BB/9 of 2.87 in 31.1 IP.  Those number slipped a bit over a full A+ season in 2016 but what blew up his ERA was a severe case of goferitis.  Yes, it was the Cal League, home to several well known launching pads, but the home park in SJ is actually quite pitcher-friendly and 17 of Jordan's 24 dingers allowed came in his home ballpark.  Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs reports that Johnson's velocity was down from 93-96 to the 91-93 MPH range which may be part of the problem, but yet the K/BB remained fairly strong despite the velocity drop.

2017 looms as a critical season for Jordan Johnson.  He has to get the dingers under control to progress toward a MLB career.

No comments:

Post a Comment