MLB Draft Notebook: Unique delivery isn't what makes Ryan Johnson stand out

Dallas Baptist righties pin-point command of slider makes him one of the drafts most interesting prospects.

It takes one pitch for Dallas Baptist right-handed pitcher Ryan Johnson to stand out as unique.

The delivery starts normal but turns into an almost slide step with no leg kick at all.

Turns out, that isn’t the only thing unique about Johnson.

The junior has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the nation and one who could potentially sneak into day one of the draft.

With a lot of concern about some of the others in the class when it comes to throwing strikes, Johnson isn’t one of them. Among pitchers with at least 250 pitches thrown, Johnson ranks 22nd in strike rate (70%), and he does it working backward the majority of the time.

Using his slider as his primary pitch, he uses his pinpoint accuracy to not only pound the strike zone with it but also to get the opposition to chase out of the zone.

Hitters chase 40.9% of the time against his slider, and he’s posted a whiff rate of over 50% this year. As far as attacking the zone? His 70.3% strike rate with the slider has produced just a 68.4% zone-contact rate.

He’s third in the nation in strikeouts behind Chase Burns (Wake Forest) and Riley Huge (Winthrop) and one ahead of Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith.

Generally, before I start diving into numbers and such, I will watch a game or two of that specific player to try to pick up on some stuff and then see if the statistics back it up.

From the get-go, you can see his command of the slider, using it in all counts against lefties and righties and on both sides of the plate. The fastball didn’t get much swing and miss, but thanks to his arm slot, it gets a lot of horizontal break on the pitch.

His last start didn’t have a radar gun on the broadcast, but the announcer did say he hit 95 mph on one whiff he picked up later in the game.

He worked backward primarily, using the slider to set up the fastball, and while he didn’t get many misses with it, hitters didn’t make much solid contact with it.

While Johnson’s ability to throw strikes is unquestioned, it will be questionable whether someone who relies on his slider over 50% of the time can make it as a starter at the next level.

Teams that like lower arm slot/sinker throwers could really target Johnson, especially if they feel they can make him a starter.

Johnson is also someone who could probably get major league hitters out right now in lower-leverage situations out of the bullpen.

While a delivery like that usually leads to bullpen concerns, Johnson repeats it well and doesn’t impact the control.

Depending on how he finishes the season, Johnson will be one of the more intriguing arms to watch in the draft this July.