2023 #51 Cleveland Guardians prospect scouting report: RHP Reid Johnston

Johnston missed plenty of bats over matching younger Low-A hitters in '22 with a lot of moving parts and a solid two pitch mix.

Build & Background

Johnston is long and lanky with arms and legs everywhere and you see a lot of them in his delivery, both to his benefit and maybe not. Johnston was not on a lot of pro radars early in his college career but was a two way prospect in high school, pitched well in the Cape Cod League to get some notice. A team issue robbed Johnston of potentially starring in the College World Series his draft year.

PG College Baseball @PGCollegeBall

.@NCStateBaseball starter Reid Johnston getting some uncomfortable swings w/ the FB, holding 90-92/93 thru 4, steady sinking life down. Mixing short tilting SL for strikes in any count.

 

What Johnston does well

Though his mechanics looks sort of funky, extreme and not so repeatable, it does seem to make Johnston a tough at bat to pick up. There’s a lot to distract you with his movement it seems. He can run his sinking fastball up to 95 and locates it fairly well. He’s got a slider that runs the opposite way off of it, which may help him with tunneling. His changeup has also flashed better over the course of the 2021 season. He has above average control. His changeup and slider both show up in the same velocity band, though I’m not entirely sure by shape if that helps him or not. There’s enough separation from his fastball and changeup presently, and he could hit the mid-90s more consistently.

Justin L. @JL_Baseball

Reid Johnston tonight: 7IP, 3H, 2R (1ER), 11K Last two starts for Johnston: 13IP, 6H, 3R (ER), 1BB, 11K

 

Where Johnston needs to improve

Johnston will lose his fastball to the arm side quite a bit with the sinking action. He tends to get outside of it at times. He will also leave his slider hanging over the plate a bit too often too, not that many Low-A hitters were capable of doing much with it. There’s still some work to be done with his changeup consistency, overall command, and there will likely be questions about his delivery being better suited for the pen.

Intangibles

As noted, Johnston was a decent two-way prospect in high school. He’s got nice starters frame that could still fill out more. He’s got the background of success in the Cape, which Cleveland likes, and he really got better as a college pitcher each year. 

Future

Command, changeup development and proving his delivery will work for him long term are what drive Johnston’s future and role. There’s a good chance his fastball/slider and delivery combination keep him better suited in the bullpen. But there may also be a change he brings the changeup along consistently enough and is just one of those pitchers whose delivery works for him too. Something between a depth starter/swing-man role and a bullpen callup seem to be about right as his future right now. But there’s potential, lower chance outcome for more that’s worth keeping an eye on. 

Role: 40 - Relief depth/swingman/depth starter

Justin L. @JL_Baseball

🌟RHP Reid Johnston (SP, Lynchburg) 6IP, 3H, 1R (0ER), BB, 10K Johnston was about 90-95 tonight with good armside movement on his fastball, lots of chases at his slider, even flashed a few average changeups.