The 2024 MLB Draft has a chance to be one of the most important in recent Blue Jays history.
In the first round, the team selected World Series hero Trey Yesavage, a pick that, so far, looks like a major win for the organization. However, it’s Toronto’s third-round selection from that same year that could really put the team’s 2024 draft class over the top.
That pick was Johnny King, a prep lefthander taken 95th overall out of Naples High School in Florida. In his debut season in 2025, he became a RoboScout favorite and established himself as an up-and-coming prospect.
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Today, we’ll be continuing our offseason series on potential sleeper and breakout pitchers by taking a deep dive into what makes King an intriguing name to follow heading into 2026.
Career Background
King was one of the youngest players in the 2024 class, as he was just 17 years old on draft day. Considered a difficult sign out of his Miami commitment, the Blue Jays landed him for $1,247,500 in the third round and delayed his debut until 2025. Toronto was deliberate with King’s rollout in pro ball. He threw in very few backfield games during minor league spring training before he was assigned to the Blue Jays’ Florida Complex League affiliate.
Because the FCL schedule start is delayed by a month compared full-season levels, King was a bit of a mystery man as the 2025 season began.Ranked as the Blue Jays’ No. 17 prospect entering the season and viewed as a potential breakout, King’s debut was met with heavy anticipation. He made his first appearance on May 10, throwing two scoreless innings against the Yankees’ FCL team. He struck out three, walked two and allowed just one hit. Over King’s first four professional appearances spanning 11.2 innings, he didn’t allow a single earned run and struck out 19 with only three walks.
After making seven appearances in the FCL, King was bumped to Low-A Dunedin, and it was in the Florida State League that he kicked his prospect status into overdrive. Over 11 appearances (10 starts), King pitched to a 3.35 ERA and 3.56 xFIP with a 38.1% strikeout rate and .201 opponent’s batting average. Walks did become somewhat of a problem in Low-A, however, as King allowed free passes 17.9% of the time. While the lack of command is concerning, it’s important to note FSL parks utilize Hawk-Eye camera technology and the challenge system, meaning the zone in the FSL is smaller than all other full-season levels, including the major leagues.
Despite his command inconsistency, King still impressed throughout his debut season. Across 18 total appearances spanning 61.2 innings, he struck out 39.5% of batters while holding opposing hitters to an average of .199 with 16.7% swinging-strike rate.
Pitching Profile
Standing 6-foot-4 with broad shoulders and a physical frame featuring remaining projection, King has a prototypical pitcher’s build. His operation gets deep into his glutes, allowing King to drop and drive with a strong lead leg block. His low three-quarters arm slot creates a deceptive angle for both lefthanded and righthanded batters, though he saw more success in opposite-handed matchups this season. King is still learning to repeat his mechanics, something that should help him find more consistency within his release point.
King mixes three pitches in a four-seam fastball, curveball and changeup, with the heater and curve seeing the majority usage this season. King’s four-seam fastball is unique. It sits 93-95 mph and touches 96 at peak, generating about 17 inches of induced vertical break on average and over a foot of armside run. That’s a tremendous amount of total movement on a fastball, particularly from a lefty. In fact, there were only four lefthanded pitchers in the minors last year that averaged 17 inches of induced vertical break or more, 12 inches of armside movement and sat 93 mph or higher.
One of those four pitchers was the Royals’ Cole Ragans, who has been one of the best pitchers in the American League the last three seasons:
| player | org | avg. velo | ivb | hb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welinton Herrera | COL | 96 | 17.6 | -12.3 |
| Cole Ragans | KC | 95.3 | 17 | -14.5 |
| Caden Vire | MIL | 94.5 | 18.3 | -14.4 |
| Johnny King | TOR | 93.7 | 17.1 | -12.6 |
King’s primary secondary is a two-plane curveball in the low 80s. Much like the fastball, King’s curve has an unusual combination of velocity and movement for a lefthander. This past year, only five lefties threw a curveball with 10 or more inches of negative IVB, nine or more inches of horizontal break and reached at least 80 mph.
Once again, King compares favorably to Ragans:
| player | org | avg. velo | ivb | hb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Mushinski | CLE | 82.2 | -11.8 | 9.7 |
| Connelly Early | BOS | 80.8 | -10.2 | 10.1 |
| Johnny King | TOR | 80.5 | -10.5 | 9.5 |
| Cole Ragans | KC | 80.4 | -14.9 | 12.7 |
| Jonathan Rosario | MIA | 80 | -13.6 | 21.4 |
King’s changeup is a clear third pitch, as it was only thrown 59 times this season across all levels. Sitting 88-90 mph, it’s a firm offering that lacks velocity separation off his fastball. While he does a fairly good job killing lift on the pitch, his plane separation between the changeup and fastball is under -2 degrees, meaning there’s not a great deal of difference from the heater. As he continues to develop, continued changeup refinement and improved separation off his fastball with both vertical movement and velocity could lead to a massive step forward for King and help establish him as a potential Top 100 Prospect.
In a year when seemingly everything went right for the Blue Jays, the emergence of King might be one of the organization’s biggest draft wins in some time.
The post Why Johnny King Could Be One Of The Blue Jays’ Biggest Draft Wins In Years appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects – Baseball America.
