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Blue Jays Nation’s 2026 Pre-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 6: Johnny King
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Photo credit: © Andrew West/The News-Press/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Feb 27, 2026, 07:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 26, 2026, 19:57 EST
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Johnny King was one of many pitching prospects who broke out for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s bi-annual prospect ranking, where we’ll look at the top 35 prospects in the system in the month of February. As always, I’ll look at the player’s stats, what other publications have to say, as well as my own observations of the players. If you missed the seventh-ranked prospect, you can read about Ricky Tiedemann here.

Getting to know Johnny King…

Position: Starting pitcher
Throws: Left
Born: July 26th, 2006
Acquired: Third round, 2024 MLB Draft
Previous ranking: 5th
In the last article, we looked at Ricky Tiedemann, and it’s pretty easy to make comparisons to him and King. Like Tiedemann, King is a left-handed pitcher that the Blue Jays drafted in the third round.
Tiedemann was a year old, as they drafted him out of junior college, while King was a high school pick. Just like Tiedemann, King didn’t make his debut until the following season after his draft year, but that’s where their career paths diverge. While Tiedemann went on to make Double-A as a 19-year-old, King stuck around the lower minors in his first professional season.
The 19-year-old lefty began his season with the Florida Complex League Jays, posting an impressive 1.13 ERA and 1.53 FIP in 24 innings pitched, making five starts in seven appearances. King also struck out 41.8% of batters with a 7.1 BB%.
Upon his promotion to the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, King’s numbers jumped a bit, finishing his tenure in Florida with a 3.35 ERA and 4.24 FIP in 37.2 innings pitched, making 10 starts in 11 appearances. He was still striking out batters left and right, finishing with a 38.1 K%, but his BB% nearly tripled, finishing with a 17.9 percent walk rate at the level.
Although King had some troubles with command, his tenure with the D-Jays was still a positive one. He had a whiff% of 38.5 percent, which is in the 89th percentile among Single-A pitchers. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph, while he threw his low-80s curveball 34.2% of the time and a changeup less than nine percent of the time.
In their mid-season update, MLB Pipeline ranked King as their fifth-best prospect, considering his fastball plus, his curveball above-average, and his changeup fringe, with below-average command. Fangraphs, who ranked King sixth in their 2026 pre-season update, gave him future value grades of 55 for the heater, 55 for the slider, and 50 for the changeup, as well as 50 for his control.
The next step for King is dropping his walk rate to the level he had in the FCL. Plenty of good big league pitchers struggled with command in their first season, so while concerning, it’s not the end of the world. Developing his changeup further will also help. He’ll likely begin his 2026 with the D-Jays, with the potential to reach High-A.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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