Baseball Prospect Report

By John Klima
July 27, 2009

(Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

The ball sounds like a gun shot coming off Cody Johnson’s bat. His power is as close to 80-raw as you’ll find in a young player, and he’s left-handed to boot. He’ll turn 21 in August and by the time he does, he will already have had more than 1,000 professional at-bats and more than 60 home runs. Welcome to player development done right.

Johnson was a first round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2006, the 24^th overall pick in the draft. He has hit for power at every step along the way of the lower tiers of the Braves minor league system, hitting 17 home runs in Danville in 2007 and 26 in Rome in 2008. He got pull happy in 2008 and saw his strikeout numbers sky rocket, but he’s brought them back to earth at Myrtle Beach in 2009, while keeping his share of balls in orbit.

Listed at 6-4, 195, Johnson has the brooding physique of a middle-of-the-order menace. He generates his power from his bat speed and strong hands. He has a little hitch in his hands that is part of his trigger. It’s something he probably won’t completely eliminate but will need to smooth out just enough to continue developing.  He won’t make anyone forget Chipper Jones as a contact hitter, but this C.J. has a chance to stay in Atlanta’s lineup for years to come if he can continue to level out his strikeouts and maintain a steady approach. His power plays. He reached July 2009 with a .274 average and 20 home runs in 71 games.

Just a few hours before Johnson put on a BP for the ages at Lake Elsinore during the California-Carolina League All-Star game, Baseball Beginnings caught up with him.

Baseball Beginnings: The Braves like to get them while they’re young, and you were 17 when you signed. What was it like to begin playing professionally so early?
Johnson: It was a bit of a culture shock when I first signed, just going from high school and the sheltered life, being 17 and out on your own for the first time. You have to be a professional on and off the field, while still being able to enjoy yourself and have fun. You can’t completely consume yourself with baseball because over six or seven months, it will drive you crazy. But you have to learn how to handle yourself on and off the field.

Baseball Beginnings: What about on the field?
Johnson: I feel like I’ve gotten better after each year. Physically I’ve gotten bigger and stronger and it has allowed me to do differing things at the plate. As a hitter, I’ve learned more about how pitchers are going to pitch me and what I have to do to make the adjustments to how they will pitch me.

Baseball Beginnings: What has been the biggest challenge for you as a hitter?
Johnson: I’d say adjusting to the different kinds of pitching. Coming out of high school, you don’t see any situational lefties coming in just to pitch to you. You don’t see fresh arms. You have to learn how they’re going to attack you and how to handle how they attack you. It’s an on-going thing.

Baseball Beginnings: What about defensively?
Johnson: That’s been an adventure. I was an infielder, a first baseman, in high school. The Braves flipped me out to left field. So it’s been about gradually learning the position. I’ve worked a lot with our outfield instructor, Lynn Jones, and he’s helped me come a long way. I feel a lot more comfortable and I give him the credit for making me a better outfielder. I feel a lot better than I used to out there and I think I’m getting better every day.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you feel confident enough that your power will play in the big leagues, but that you’ll need to raise the surrounding tools to at least average levels to be able to compete every day?
Johnson: Absolutely. Defense is probably the weakest part of my game, but I still feel like I can hold my own. I feel like I’ll be able to hold my own at the big league level. I think I’ll be able to hit.

Baseball Beginnings: Describe what it is like to be a Braves minor leaguer, especially for someone who grew up in the South?
Johnson: I can’t speak for any other organization, but the Braves treat us great. All the way from Spring Training in Orlando, to our cities during the year, everything is great. Our field staff and our front office staff, you can’t ask for anything more in terms of the instruction you get.

Baseball Beginnings: How is the Myrtle Beach park to hit at?
Johnson: Myrtle is more known as a pitcher’s park. We usually get a nice breeze coming in from the ocean but the wind blows in. They added some seats down the left-field line and made it a little shorter. The wind usually blows in from right.

Baseball Beginnings: Does that make it harder for you to hit as a left-hander?
Johnson: It can, but it gets you back to thinking about going up the middle or to shoot for the (left-center) gap and go opposite field.

Baseball Beginnings: How do you feel about your strikeout rates? You look like the kind of hitter who will probably always have some strikeouts to go with your game, but do you think that it’s something that can prevent you from becoming an everyday major league player?
Johnson: I’m comfortable with my strikeout rate this season because I feel like I’ve cut it down so much from last year. My goal last year was just to finish under 100 at the All-Star break. I had 98 strikeouts at the break and cut it down at the break to (79). So I feel like I’m learning the Carolina League and learning the pitchers and doing a better job of making contact. I think I’m better off than I was a year ago.

Read Cody Johnson Scouting Report

Categories: 2009 Minor Leagues
Tags: Atlanta Braves, California-Carolina League All-Star Game, Cody Johnson, Cody Johnson Interview, Pro Interview