LATEST PG SHOWCASE REPORT
2006 National Showcase
Jake Johnson is a 2007 right hand hitting catcher from La Mirada HS, residing in La Mirada, CA. Johnson has a strong and physical build on a well-developed 6'2" 200 lb. frame. He is as strong as he looks and that strength comes out in a few areas of his game. Johnson was ranked #82 among PG National Top 100 position players and showed the power/power combination that is prized in catcher... power arm and power in the bat. At the plate Johnson gets the attention of scouts pretty quickly because the ball comes off his bat very well. He makes a lot of hard and loud barrel contact in BP and flashes that ability in games. His barrel is in the zone for a length of time and results in him having the ability to spray the ball with power to all fields. For the most part his body says that he has a pull side approach but he can be late and still drive the ball the other way as his arms get extension in his swing. Johnson is a middle of the order type bat, somewhere in the 5-7 spot where his power will drive in runs. Behind the plate he showed that he has strong hands and did a nice job of catching some pitchers with big velocity. He also blocked the ball in the dirt well. Johnson has a pretty big arm and a good exchange from glove to hand. His feet work and he gets in good position to throw. He showed sub 2.0 pop times in between innings and was on the bag with a 2.06 toss in a game. Johnson has a chance to be a very solid catch/throw prospect, probably a bit above average. He ran 4.99 home/1st with a 7.57 60 but is more athletic behind the plate than those times suggest. With good receiving and catch/throw skills to go with the pop in his bat, Johnson is going to generate plenty of interest from the area scouts. There are not a lot of young catchers with his overall skill set and those skills for him are pretty playable right now.