King was a two-time SWFL Baseball Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024 at Naples, and was a third round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays last year.
During his pregame routine in Hammond Stadium's right field, Johnny King heard a familiar voice.
“You’re still small, dude,” Kyle Burchfield, his pitching coach at Naples High, said.
King looked up and grinned.
When he was last seen locally, King was wearing a Naples Golden Eagles jersey and winning the Southwest Florida Baseball Player of the Year Award in 2023 and 2024. On Saturday, Aug. 2, plenty attended King’s return to Southwest Florida as the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays third-round draft pick made his hometown pro debut on the mound against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
King went five scoreless innings for the Dunedin Blue Jays, conceding a pair of hits and walks while striking out seven, continuing what’s widely been a successful first pro season with Toronto's Low-A affiliate in the Florida State League.
“It was awesome," King said after his outing. "Having everybody here was a dream come true. Had so many people here cheering me on. I felt like my support was louder than the whole stadium. It was really cool, having the whole family here, catching up with people I hadn't seen in a while. It's really cool."
King had a rocky first inning, leading off with a walk and a hit batter before eventually settling in with a force out and a pair of strikeouts. The left-hander then cruised through the Mussels order twice with relative ease, ending his outing with a strikeout against Marek Houston, the Twins' 2025 first-round pick.
“This year has been a little bit of a struggle with command," King said. "I've been working on it a lot. Trying to get better at bullpens, but when there's batters here, it's a little bit different. Tonight in the first inning, those first two things happen, and I was like, 'Gosh, here we go again.' But I settled in and was really relaxed out there. That was the most relaxed I've been... I felt relaxed and felt like myself today."
King's success comes a year after being drafted and celebrating his 19th birthday just over a week ago. In his first full season, he’s struck out 81 in 45 innings pitched, with a 1.40 ERA between the Florida Complex League and Dunedin. His 16.2 K/9 ratio currently leads all minor leaguers who have thrown more than 45 innings.
"I expected him to do well," former Naples baseball coach Jimmy Nocera said. "But probably not this well. I think obviously when he gets bumped up again at the higher level, he'll definitely be tested. But the sky is the limit for this kid. I think if he stays healthy, which is always a concern of every pitcher, he's got a great chance. He really does."
King’s also seen his stock rise with every outing, jumping up to being the Blue Jays’ fourth-best prospect in their farm system and coming close to cracking the MLB Top 100 prospects list. It hasn’t come without its challenges. He altered his body by shaving off 10 pounds of fat while replacing it with 8 pounds of muscle and not throwing for the first few weeks after being drafted.
"It's definitely been an adjustment with my new body," King said. "It's been definitely still trying to get bigger, of course, because I'm still 19. There's a lot more that's going to still fill out. I'm still young, but it's just lifting and the hard work I've been putting in is paying off with the weight stuff and the body, how it's looking, and the nutrition side of it. There's so much to it now in this game with all the professionals we have around. There's so many resources that I can rely on."
Adopting a changeup as his fourth pitch has been key for King. Something he rarely threw in high school because his three-pitch mix (fastball, slider, curveball) was so overpowering against high school hitters, it's largely been a point of emphasis for him this season as he faces hitters older than him.
"I think we know in order to be a successful major league starter, particularly as a lefty, you're going to need something that's moving that way, that's a changeup or split variation," Dunedin Blue Jays pitching coach Cory Riordan said. "He knew from the start of spring that we need to work on it, but there were a couple things we really needed to hammer home, fastball zone percentage, landing curveballs for strikes when he wanted them.
"And now, as we've moved into his fourth or fifth outing here, slowly starting to push that envelope with grip stuff, with spin stuff, and zoning up the changeup and developing that feel. I think it's extremely common for a young starter to experience that and what he's going through right now and trying to figure out what works for him, what feels comfortably, and then slowly drifting into a game and use it more and more where the confidence builds with that pitch."
With minimal time remaining in Dunedin's regular season, King's aiming to stay healthy before heading into the offseason with aspirations of starting next season in High-A Vancouver or Double-A New Hampshire. In what's largely been a process-oriented approach in the minor leagues, he'll keep stacking quality outings, trusting that consistent execution will eventually result in a call up to the Big Leagues.
"It's been a hell of an experience," King said. "You're learning and meeting all these new people, and learning so much from these guys that have been around baseball for so long and the all-new technology and stuff about mechanics, it's just been a dream come true.
"I'm living the dream as a kid. My younger self would be so proud of what I'm doing right now."
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples' Johnny King enjoying pro baseball success with Dunedin Blue Jays
Category: Baseball
