Houston decided to go with experience for their eighth-round choice.
Ryan Johnson is a six-foot, 175 lb. righty hitting and throwing second baseman out of Pepperdine University. Now 22-years-old, Johnson hails out of Mesa, AZ.
Previous Selections
First Round (28) SS, Brice Matthews, Nebraska
Second Round (61) P, Alonzo Tredwell, UCLA
Third Round (99) P, Jake Bloss, Georgetown
Fourth Round (131) OF, Cam Fisher, UNC-Charlotte
Fifth Round (164) M-IF, Chase Jaworsky, Rock Canyon HS
Sixth Round (194) RHP, Ethan Pecko, Towson U
Seventh Round (224) RHP, Joey Dixon, Stanford
Johnson was a four-year letterman with the Pepperdine Waves, and was also a frequent participant in Summer Leagues. His first three seasons of college ball would see him wield progressive OPS’s of .804, .746, and .834. In his senior year, that jumped to 1.063 as he slashed .290/.416/.647 with 18 jacks and 45 RBI in 49 contests.
Johnson fielded at a clip of .860 at shortstop for the Pulaski River Turtles in his 2022 summer league. In 2023, he made 10 errors in 266 chances for a .962 fielding percentage, according to Pepperdine’s website.
I like looking at Big League hitters and taking little things from each of them because they are the best in the world at what we do — Johnson, at Pepperdine-graphic.com
In addition to second base and shortstop, Johnson also backstopped and played third base as needed for whatever team he was playing for. This modularity would serve him well in Houston’s minor league complex, where adaptability may be the most important attribute of a prospect. I couldn’t find dedicated video of Johnson, so check this out...
Johnson is the second player taken out of Pepperdine in this season’s draft, after John Peck went 200th to the Detroit Tigers. What do you think of our eighth-round choice this year?
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