Ben
Johnson

Cape Cod: The Cape All-Star featured a splitty as his best pitch and was able to miss bats with a mix of all three of his pitches. His splitter ranged from 84-86 with hard dive and spin rates of 1000-1400 rpm. There was very good deception with his arm speed as the pitch was released out of his fastball window. Johnson landed the pitch for called strikes, as well as a swinging chase pitch for the KO. His fastball sat 89-92 (2300-2500 rpm) and touched some 93s, while the slider sat 81-84 at 2200-2400 rpm. Johnson was used as a swingman in the Cape, making three starts and six appearances as a reliever and he profiles long-term to the bullpen at the pro level.

The tall, wiry Johnson continues to show the arm strength, pushing his fastball up to 91 mph. The Georgia Southern commit has a very projectable 6-foot-4 frame with good hand-speed, and even more velocity coming over the next year. Johnson will have to show more breaking ball feel by draft time in order to boost his pro profile, but there his size, build, and arm strength make it easy to find the upside.

We got a better look at 2020 Georgia Southern commit Ben Johnson (Ninth Inning/Providence Christian) on Sunday, as he came out of the pen for a second time this week. Once again he was living 87-89, but didn’t have much feel or his breaking ball. It’s got the spin, and at times it bit, but there’s nothing to be concerned about. At 6-4, 165 pounds, Johnson is likely going to bloom into a very good arm, and he’s exciting to watch on the mound.