Dodgers’ Micah Johnson Named to MLB’s Top 2B Prospect List

This afternoon MLB Pipeline released their top 10 second base prospects and Micah Johnson made the list at number seven.

MLB Pipeline on Twitter broke their list of the ten top second base prospects coming into the 2016 season. Dodgers’ prospect Micah Johnson made their list at the seventh spot.

Micah Johnson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 9th round during the 2012 draft. The 25 year old had a short stint as the Chicago White Sox everyday second baseman. With the White Sox in 2015, Johnson played in 36 games and posted a batting average of .230. However, the Dodgers believe that those 36 games with the big league team are not a good representation of the potential Johnson has as a major league second baseman.

In 385 minor league games, Johnson has a batting average of .301, an OBP of .368 and 153 stolen bases. He can hit and he can run, but Johnson’s weakness is his defensive ability. MLB in their article even states “he may never be more than an adequate defender”.

Defense may not be his strong suit, but there is always room for improvement. Johnson has power with the bat and speed. Speed is what can help the Dodgers the most right now and a great quality to have as a middle infielder.

The Dodgers acquired Micah Johnson on December 16, 2015 when he was involved in the three team trade with the Cincinnati Reds and White Sox. Johnson was traded to the Dodgers along with Frankie Montas and Trayce Thompson. That trade also sent Todd Fraizer to the White Sox and Scott Schebler, Jose Peraza and Brandon Dixon to the Reds.

The only problem in all of this, is when looking at MLB’s top second-base prospect list, you see that Peraza was rated number two. So essentially this offseason the Dodgers traded the second rated 2B prospect and in return got the 7th rated 2B prospect. However, it is not fair to compare them both by just this one fact, as Montas and Thompson are both more highly-rated than Schebler and Dixon.

Yoan Moncada took the top spot on the list. There was a lot of speculation that the Dodgers were interested in him in the last international signing period, but by passing on him, they were free to spend during this signing period. Ian Happ (Cubs), Forrest Wall (Rockies), Alex Blandino (Reds) and Alex Hanson (Pirates) join Moncada (Red Sox) and Peraza (Reds) as the prospects ranking ahead of Johnson.

Micah Johnson has a lot of potential, he just needs some time to figure out how to advance defensively at 2B. At just the age of 25, Micah has potential to have a successful major league career.