Johnny King struck out six over five one-run innings last night. He generated 17 whiffs on 43 total swings, and six of them came in the third inning. Here's all the swings he generated in the third.
Blue Jays: Johnny King strikes out six and walks one in most recent start
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Jun 25, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 25, 2026, 07:25 EDT
Toronto Blue Jays prospect Johnny King had another terrific outing.
Starting the High-A Vancouver Canadians game on Wednesday, the 19-year-old left-handed pitcher hurled five innings of one-run ball, walking just one batter and striking out six.
The lone run came in the bottom of the first inning. José Mejía led off the inning with a single, followed by a single from JD Dix. King induced a ground ball, but a throwing error allowed the run to come in. After walking the next batter to put two on, King generated two more ground balls to get out of the inning.
He dialed in from there. In the bottom of the second, the first two batters put the ball in play for outs, a ground out and a pop out. After a single, King struck out Mejía, his first of six strikeouts on the night.
King’s best inning was the bottom of the third. The Blue Jays’ third round pick got the lead-off hitter to swing and miss twice, before getting the out thanks to a lineout. Up next was Yassel Soler, who struck out swinging, as did Carlos Virahonda for a clean third inning.
In the fourth, Kayson Cunningham led off the inning. He was moved to second thanks to a ground out, but King struck out his fourth batter of the game, before getting a ground out to end the inning.
Then in his final inning, the bottom of the fifth, King struck out Jakey Josepha to lead-off the inning. Tucker Toman committed a fielding error, but King got his sixth and final strikeout. The Hillsboro Hops hit another single, but both runners were stranded thanks to a flyout.
King threw 91 pitches in this game, with 62 of them for strikes. Moreover, the left-handed pitcher generated 17 swings and missed on 43 total swings, good for a 39.5 whiff %. On the broadcast, it noted he hit 95 mph at least once, a great sign for what was a great outing.
With the strong performance, King’s ERA now sits at 2.41 over 52.1 innings of work. He’s also struck out 31.3% of the batters he’s faced this season, white his BB% is rather high. Though by issuing one free pass in this game, King’s BB% dropped from 13.5% to 12.6 BB%.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see King join the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats at some point around the All-Star break. He’s pitched effectively at the High-A level and has dominated hitters. That said, for how many remaining starts he has left in British Columbia, he’ll need to continue to limit the walks.
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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