Today’s prospect has yet to make his professional debut.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual Pre-Season Prospect Countdown, this time looking at the top 40 prospects in the organization. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publications&#8217; scouting reports if available.
Let’s take a look at our 20th-best Toronto Blue Jays prospect, Johnny King IV!
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<h2>Getting to know Johnny King IV…</h2>
Position: Starting pitcher
Throws: Left
Born: July 26, 2006
Acquired: 3rd-round, 2024 draft
Previous ranking: 19th
The Blue Jays sure love to pick young left-handed pitchers in the early rounds of the draft. In the 2021 draft, they selected Ricky Tiedemann with their third-round pick. The next year, they selected Brandon Barriera with their first-round pick and in 2024, they selected left-handed pitcher Johnny King IV out of high school with their third-round pick.
Like Tiedemann, Barriera, and many others, King won’t make his professional debut until the season after his draft. King will likely start the 2025 season in the Florida Complex League when it begins in early May.
<a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024/bluejays/johnny-king-803516">MLB Pipeline </a>ranked King IV as their 15th-best Blue Jays prospect during the mid-season update. Standing at 6’4”, 210 lb, he features a fastball that sits in the low-90s but reaches 94-95 mph. It’s graded as 55 in his scouting report. As he fills out his frame, he’ll probably throw even harder.  He also features a slider that is an out pitch against left-handed batters, as well as a curveball and changeup.
King IV’s control is graded as 45 and there’s a lot of effort in his delivery, but it’s repeatable and scouts believe he has the ceiling of a mid-rotation stater. It’ll be interesting to see how the 18-year-old performs in his first taste of professional action, as he could quickly rise up the Blue Jays prospect rankings with a couple of good seasons.
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<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-countdown-no-40-randy-soto">No. 40: Randy Soto</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-39-kennew-blanco">No. 39: Kennew Blanco</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-38-kendry-chirinos">No. 38: Kendry Chirinos</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-37-victor-arias">No. 37: Victor Arias</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-36-yohendrick-pinango">No. 36: Yohendrick Piñango</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-35-damiano-palmegiani">No. 35: Damiano Palmegiani</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-34-lazaro-estrada">No. 34: Lazaro Estrada</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-33-mason-fluharty">No. 33: Mason Fluharty</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-32-dahian-santos">No. 32: Dahian Santos</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-31-juaron-watts-brown">No. 31: Juaron Watts-Brown</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-30-cutter-coffey">No. 30: Cutter Coffey</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-29-eddinson-paulino">No. 29: Eddinson Paulino</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-28-dasan-brown">No. 28: Dasan Brown</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-27-brandon-barriera">No. 27: Brandon Barriera</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-26-sean-keys">No. 26: Sean Keys</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-25-peyton-williams">No. 25: Peyton Williams</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-24-rainer-nunez">No. 24: Rainer Nuñez</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-23-enmanuel-bonilla">No. 23: Enmanuel Bonilla</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-22-adrian-pinto">No. 22: Adrian Pinto</a>
<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-21-ryan-jennings">No. 21: Ryan Jennings</a>
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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social
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Today’s prospect has yet to make his professional debut.



This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual Pre-Season Prospect Countdown, this time looking at the top 40 prospects in the organization. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publications' scouting reports if available.

Let’s take a look at our 20th-best Toronto Blue Jays prospect, Johnny King IV!
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="330" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="“web-content-promocard&quot;"></div>
&nbsp;
<h2>Getting to know Johnny King IV…</h2>
Position: Starting pitcher

Throws: Left

Born: July 26, 2006

Acquired: 3rd-round, 2024 draft

Previous ranking: 19th

The Blue Jays sure love to pick young left-handed pitchers in the early rounds of the draft. In the 2021 draft, they selected Ricky Tiedemann with their third-round pick. The next year, they selected Brandon Barriera with their first-round pick and in 2024, they selected left-handed pitcher Johnny King IV out of high school with their third-round pick.

Like Tiedemann, Barriera, and many others, King won’t make his professional debut until the season after his draft. King will likely start the 2025 season in the Florida Complex League when it begins in early May.

<a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024/bluejays/johnny-king-803516">MLB Pipeline </a>ranked King IV as their 15th-best Blue Jays prospect during the mid-season update. Standing at 6’4”, 210 lb, he features a fastball that sits in the low-90s but reaches 94-95 mph. It’s graded as 55 in his scouting report. As he fills out his frame, he’ll probably throw even harder.  He also features a slider that is an out pitch against left-handed batters, as well as a curveball and changeup.

King IV’s control is graded as 45 and there’s a lot of effort in his delivery, but it’s repeatable and scouts believe he has the ceiling of a mid-rotation stater. It’ll be interesting to see how the 18-year-old performs in his first taste of professional action, as he could quickly rise up the Blue Jays prospect rankings with a couple of good seasons.

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<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-countdown-no-40-randy-soto">No. 40: Randy Soto</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-39-kennew-blanco">No. 39: Kennew Blanco</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-38-kendry-chirinos">No. 38: Kendry Chirinos</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-37-victor-arias">No. 37: Victor Arias</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-36-yohendrick-pinango">No. 36: Yohendrick Piñango</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-35-damiano-palmegiani">No. 35: Damiano Palmegiani</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-34-lazaro-estrada">No. 34: Lazaro Estrada</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-33-mason-fluharty">No. 33: Mason Fluharty</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-32-dahian-santos">No. 32: Dahian Santos</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-31-juaron-watts-brown">No. 31: Juaron Watts-Brown</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-30-cutter-coffey">No. 30: Cutter Coffey</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-29-eddinson-paulino">No. 29: Eddinson Paulino</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-top-40-prospect-countdown-no-28-dasan-brown">No. 28: Dasan Brown</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-27-brandon-barriera">No. 27: Brandon Barriera</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-26-sean-keys">No. 26: Sean Keys</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-25-peyton-williams">No. 25: Peyton Williams</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-24-rainer-nunez">No. 24: Rainer Nuñez</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-23-enmanuel-bonilla">No. 23: Enmanuel Bonilla</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-22-adrian-pinto">No. 22: Adrian Pinto</a>

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-nations-2025-pre-season-prospect-countdown-no-21-ryan-jennings">No. 21: Ryan Jennings</a>

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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social

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