Johnny King is putting together a tremendously strong finish to his 2026 season.

The 20-year-old southpaw turned in yet another pitching gem for Double-A New Hampshire on Wednesday, firing five scoreless innings of three-hit ball with one walk and eight strikeouts — matching his season-high — on 14 swings and misses. It’s the fifth time he’s racked up eight punchouts this season, but it’s his first time with the Fisher Cats.

King, who threw 71 pitches (47 strikes) in his 25th overall start of ’26 (fourth at Double-A), will likely make one final start before New Hampshire’s campaign concludes next week.

After a shaky Fisher Cats debut last month, King — the Toronto Blue Jays’ No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline — has found his groove again over his last three Double-A starts, including Wednesday’s, allowing just one run across 14 innings while issuing five walks and 17 strikeouts. He’ll enter his final outing next week without having surrendered a run over his previous nine innings pitched.

On the year, the young left-hander owns a dazzling 2.91 ERA and 3.81 FIP over 102 innings — up from 61.2 frames in 2025 between the Florida Complex League and Single-A Dunedin — split between High-A and Double-A. They’re also accompanied by a 16.9 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate and a .198 OPP AVG.

It’s been an impressive second season inside the Blue Jays’ farm system for King, the organization’s third-round selection out of Naples HS in 2024. He spent most of this season as a 19-year-old hurler before turning 20 last month, and has been facing hitters multiple years older than him, with an average age of 22 at High-A and 23 at Double-A.

And yet, he’s continued to look the part and then some every step of the way. The high-strikeout lefty isn’t expected to make a late-season appearance with Triple-A Buffalo this year. But if all goes well next spring, there’s a pretty high chance he’ll begin the 2027 campaign as part of a talented Bisons rotation — alongside fellow top prospects Nolan Perry, Daniel Guerra, Danny Thompson Jr. and Jake Bloss (if healthy).

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