AAP: Garrett Johnson

[NorthSideSox72]

 

Garrett Johnson, LHP

Born 9/2/1987 in Stillwater, OK

6’10", 205 according to MILB

Throws: L

Bats: L

 

OVERVIEW

 

Garrett is a young, tall (6’10”), lanky lefthander who was drafted out of high school at age 18. He put up some absurd numbers in high school, both pitching and hitting, and was seen as highly projectable with a consistent delivery. Not a lot of velocity, but it was thought he’d mature into that.

 

He didn’t pitch in the org in 2006, due to a late signing. 2007 was pretty awful at Bristol in the bullpen, but when he repeated in 2008 as a 20 year old, he put up respectable numbers as a starter. He’s now in Kanny’s 2009 rotation.

Other than his height and good K numbers so far, one other stat sticks out in his time in the minors – he had an excellent 2.79 GO/AO in 2008 with Bristol, and his first outing in 2009 rated him a 4.00 in that department. This is a good sign, especially in an organization where the major league ballpark is a homer haven.

 

The big question I have, really, is about velocity – he was only hitting 85 in high school, no word on if he has improved on that. It seems he has all the other tools you would look for from someone who skipped college (frame, consistent delivery, good breaking stuff, induces lots of ground balls).

 

PRE-COLLEGE NOTES

 

Garrett attended Orme High School in Mayer, Arizona for his senior year (moved from Oklahoma when his father became the head of Orme high school). He played basketball and took his team to the state finals, but was seen as more of a baseball prospect because of his thin build.

 

That senior year, he pitched 57.1 innings and had a 0.73 ERA, and allowed just 6 hits in those innings, so he averaged less than a hit allowed for every 9 innings pitched. He allowed 20 walks, but also struck out 126 – that gave him a 0.45 WHIP and an absurd 19.78 K/9. Since he wasn’t noted to have a lot of velocity yet, these are some impressive numbers.

He also hit a bit that year, putting up a .553/.600/.851 line in 47 AB (60 PA).

 

Garrett was #68 of the 2006 Team One Top 100 High School Seniors.

 

COLLEGE

 

Johnson did not play any college ball.

 

SIGN/DRAFT

 

Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 29th round (885th overall) of the 2006 June regular amateur draft. He signed a bit late, in August of 2006, which may explain why he didn’t pitch in the minors that year.

 

MINORS

 

Johnson did not pitch in his draft year due to that late signing. He opened 2007 in the bullpen with Bristol (short season Rookie ball), as a 19 year old. His numbers were pretty bad – in 15 games, 20 innings, he put up an 8.10 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, and managed to walk 12 batters. He did however have a good K rate, striking out 23 for a 10.4 K/9. In 2007 he repeated Bristol, but they moved him to the starting rotation, which seems an odd move for a pitcher with control problems – but it worked. He pitched 12 games (started 11), and over 52.1 IP, put up a 4.12 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and still managed to improve his K rate a bit to 10.8. His GO/AO of 2.79 is also nice. Not spectacular numbers, but a big improvement over his first year.

 

Here at the open of 2009, Johnson is in the starting rotation with Low A Kannapolis. His first start was a loss, but an OK outing – 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K - both runs on solo HR. Kanny doesn’t look to have a ton of hitting prospect talent, so he may have trouble getting much run support.

 

SCOUTING

 

BA had this to say when he was drafted:

 

Lefthander Garrett Johnson moved to Arizona this year when his stepfather became the head of the private Orme School. Johnson led Orme to the state finals in basketball but has more upside in baseball because he packs just 205 pounds on his 6-foot-10 frame. Johnson's fastball sits in the 82-85 mph range, but his size creates plenty of deception for hitters and plenty of interest for scouts. He's fairly athletic but is still figuring baseball out. He's likely a draft-and-follow candidate.

 

Rivals.com had this:

 

The projectability is extremely high. Has a very breaking ball and easy fastball that comes from a surprisingly repeatable delivery, especially for a 6'10" young pitcher. Stay on him, he will be a high draft commodity in June 2006. His breaking ball is a huge present day asset and makes him extremely tough on left hand hitters.

 

 

PERSONAL/AWARDS/OTHER

 

Johnson was named the APP league pitcher of the week, for the week of 6/23 in 2008.

 

 

REFERENCE

 

BASEBALL CUBE PAGE

 

MILB PAGE

 

High school pitching stats

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett's first month as a starter with Kanny was pretty good, though compared to the stellar numbers the rest of the Kanny staff put up, he didn't stand out. Some highlights...

 

3 starts, 17 IP

1-2

3.71 ERA

1.12 WHIP

3.13 GO/AO

.254 AvgA

3 BB

14 K

0 HR

 

The ERA is just OK, but his peripherals are all very good - low WHIP, very high GO/AO, good control numbers, no homers given up. He is brutal on lefties - .136 AvgA, sub-1 WHIP, and an 11.00 GO/AO. All encouraging results for the 21-year-old, and perhaps indicative of him putting on some velocity as they had hoped he would.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett has been placed on the 7 Day DL, and hasn't pitched since 5/1. No information as to the reason for the DL stint yet, or how long it might last.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett returned from the DL, made a couple shaky relief appearances, then a very short and shaky start. He has since appeared in relief again, where he finally looked like himself again. Still no idea what the nature of his injury was, and its unclear if he's now a member of the bullpen, or if he will go back to starting again.

 

Here are his May results, which were not pretty:

 

5 games (2 starts), 11.1 IP

0-1

7.15 ERA

2.03 WHIP

5 BB / 12 K

4.00 GO/AO

.367 AvgA

2 HR

 

His K rate is still as high as you'd want from him, and he's still inducing ground balls at a good rate. But he's getting hit and hit hard, giving up 18 hits in those 11.1 IP.

 

Hopefully his last appearance (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) will get him going in the right direction again, and we'll see if his future is in the rotation or as a reliever.

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

June was an interesting month for Garrett, but really, the whole year has been a strange trip. Let's look at some highlights...

 

--Begins season in Kanny as a starter, at just 21 years old, and puts up decent numbers in his first month: 3.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 3.13 GO/AO, 14 K and just 3 BB in 17 IP.

 

--On May 1st, he gets shelled - 4 IP, 10 H, 4 ER - raising his ERA by a full point.

 

--On May 2nd, he goes on the DL - still don't know the reason for it.

 

--On May 20th comes off the DL, this time in the bullpen for two appearances, and a start. Over those three outings he goes 5.2 innings, gives up 8 H, 4 ER and 3 BB.

 

--On May 31st he's back in the pen, and from there through 6/16 he looks OK in that role - 8.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.

 

--So he makes another start on 6/20, and gets shelled, again - 4 IP, 12 H, 11 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

 

--Now he's back in the pen, one appearance so far - 2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

 

Just not sure what to make of all that, but, the word erratic comes to mind. I'd suspect they'll leave him in the pen now, and we'll see how his season plays out. He's still very young, and he has some time.

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett has been demoted to Great Falls, where they are trying to get him into a starter slot again. The roller coaster continues.

 

First start at GF on 7/16: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

 

Solid start on short innings. Let's hope he can build on that.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

End of July update for Garrett, who finished the month in Great Falls, where they are using him as a starter. In his 14.2 IP over three starts there, he has a 3.07 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 9 K and 4 BB. Not bad, especially pitching in a band box, but we'll see if he can keep that stable.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett starts 2010 in Kanny's bullpen. After a tumultuous 2009, and now being 22 years old with 3 minor league seasons under his belt, he needs to step it up to get his shot.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

End of April update for Garrett...

 

Garrett has been working in middle relief in Kanny, and has looked solid thus far. His numbers...

 

8 G, 12 IP

1.50 ERA

0.92 WHIP

.196 AvgA

0 HR

2.00 GO/AO

8 K (6 K/9)

2 BB (1.5 BB/9)

4:1 K:BB

 

Overall very nice to see. His K and BB numbers and their rates are as good as he's shown in his career, hitters aren't getting to him much, and he's inducing a lot of ground balls. His K number should maybe be a little higher, but its not bad. Hopefully he can keep this up and get back on the radar.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

May has not been good to Garrett, who put up a 5.14 ERA. His peripherals have been OK - 13 K in 14 IP, 6 BB is a bit high, a ridiculous 5.75 GO/AO is encouraging. Still doesn't seem like he's more than org filler at this point though.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett was promoted to High A Winston-Salem some time recently, not sure exactly when. He's been doing reasonably well in A ball this year, so maybe he's not entirely off the prospect radar. 6'10" lefty reliever who can induce a lot of ground balls, that probably has value.

 

His final #'s from Kanny this year:

 

29 G

44 IP

35 H

18 ER

2 HR

17 BB

39 K

 

3.68 ERA

1.18 WHIP

.219 AvgA

3.24 GO/AO (wow)

7.98 K/9

3.47 BB/9

 

[NorthSideSox72]

W-S roster announced, without Garrett Johnson on it... my guess is he may be the lefty in the pen at B-Ham, since they don't appear to have one among those likely to go to AA in 2011.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

So, Garrett doesn't appear on any roster in the system, and his profile on MiLB shows no results for this year.

 

I think he may be out of baseball. But if anyone knows different, let me know.

 

[JPN366]

So, Garrett doesn't appear on any roster in the system, and his profile on MiLB shows no results for this year.

 

I think he may be out of baseball. But if anyone knows different, let me know.

 

He was put on the DL before the season started, he's probably out in AZ with the other players in extended.

Edited May 2, 2011 by JPN366

[NorthSideSox72]

He was put on the DL before the season started, he's probably out in AZ with the other players in extended.

Interesting. He was on the 7-day DL but hasn't played yet. Also, the other team rosters show DL players, but his name doesn't appear. Maybe they haven't assigned him to a team yet.

 

[JPN366]

Interesting. He was on the 7-day DL but hasn't played yet. Also, the other team rosters show DL players, but his name doesn't appear. Maybe they haven't assigned him to a team yet.

 

Most of those guys weren't assigned to a team. The 7 days is just a minimum amount of time they have to be inactive.

[danman31]

Yeah Gilmore wasn't listed on a roster until he was activated.

[NorthSideSox72]

G Johnson did some extended ST and rehab work after the injury. Trib noted that he got to throw some BP the big leaguers in Colorado.

 

Now activated with Kanny, Low A.

 

[kjohnson44]

So, Garrett doesn't appear on any roster in the system, and his profile on MiLB shows no results for this year.

 

I think he may be out of baseball. But if anyone knows different, let me know.

 

Garrett is not out of baseball. He has just returned for a rehab assignment pitched to Adam Dunn in Denver and Chicgo. Just sent to Kannapolis and throw 2 innings Thursday 1 hit 0 runs and 0 bb 2 strikeouts.

[SoxAce]

He has just returned for a rehab assignment pitched to Adam Dunn in Denver and Chicgo.

 

That will get he confidence up.

[NorthSideSox72]

Garrett is not out of baseball. He has just returned for a rehab assignment pitched to Adam Dunn in Denver and Chicgo. Just sent to Kannapolis and throw 2 innings Thursday 1 hit 0 runs and 0 bb 2 strikeouts.

Welcome to the board!

 

If you continued to the end of the thread, you would have noticed the more recent update I posted about this. Yes, he's back in Kanny.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

And very quickly, G Johnson has been promoted to W-S.

 

Final numbers from his short stint with Bristol (2 games) and Kanny (1 game)...

 

4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (and a nice 2.50 GO/AO)

 

23 years old at this point, so he may have a shot yet if he does well in High A or above this season.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

EOY update...

 

Garrett missed a substantial part of the year to injury. He rehabbed at Bristol with a couple appearances, and one game at Kanny, before landing at A+ W-S. His final stats there in only 6 games:

 

8.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 5 K... 4.32 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, .226 AvgA, 3.75 GO/AO

 

Having just turned 24 and only pitching a few innings in High A, the chances of Garrett ever becoming a serious prospect as slim. Given his lefthandedness, 6'10" frame and ability to induce ground balls, it is possible if he looks good in AA in 2012 he may still have a shot, but it is a long shot at best. He hasn't been able to add the velocity the team thought he would.

 

Having put in 5 years in the minors, 2012 will be his final year of protection without the 40 man, and he would become a minor league FA after that.

 

[kjohnson44]

EOY update...

 

Garrett missed a substantial part of the year to injury. He rehabbed at Bristol with a couple appearances, and one game at Kanny, before landing at A+ W-S. His final stats there in only 6 games:

 

8.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 5 K... 4.32 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, .226 AvgA, 3.75 GO/AO

 

Having just turned 24 and only pitching a few innings in High A, the chances of Garrett ever becoming a serious prospect as slim. Given his lefthandedness, 6'10" frame and ability to induce ground balls, it is possible if he looks good in AA in 2012 he may still have a shot, but it is a long shot at best. He hasn't been able to add the velocity the team thought he would.

 

Having put in 5 years in the minors, 2012 will be his final year of protection without the 40 man, and he would become a minor league FA after that.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

kyle, did you intend to post a response there? Looks like you just re-posted my post.