Johnson is a two-way player who could be drafted as a first baseman with some pop but is much more widely seen as a left-handed pitcher.
He's an off-speed guy who'll pitch with an average fastball at 88-92 and throws a lot of breaking balls, mostly an above-average big-breaking curve with a two-plane break and tight, visible rotation; he prefers it to his above-average changeup even in conventional changeup counts. The change at 80-84 is solid but not plus, coming out of his hand just like his fastball. He has a show-me slider that he'd be better off scrapping if it doesn't get better. He doesn't have life on his fastball, but commands it well to both sides of the plate.
Johnson is very balanced over the rubber and all through his delivery, with a clean and fairly low-effort arm swing. He's a pretty high-probability, low-projection guy who should be in the middle of someone's rotation inside of two years, and could be in the majors in 12 months because minor league hitters won't do much with his off-speed stuff.
Player Grades
PRESENT FUTURE LOW(MPH) HIGH(MPH)
Fastball 50 50 -- --
FB Movement 40 40 -- --
Command 55 60 -- --
Control 60 60 -- --
Curveball 60 60 -- --
Slider 40 40 -- --
Changeup 55 55 -- --
Feel for Pitching -- -- -- --