Jamie Johnson

Jamie Elliot Johnson

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.
• School Texarkana College, University of Oklahoma
• High School West Ouachita High School

• Born April 26, 1987 in Minden, LA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Jamie Johnson played in the Detroit Tigers system from 2009 to 2014.

Amateur Career

He hit .424 as a high school freshman, .351 as a sophomore, .560 as a junior (winning All-State honors) and .470 as a senior, when he was named Louisiana Player of the Year. He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 50th round of the 2006 amateur draft, one pick after Jarrod Dyson, but did not sign a contract; the late drafting was likely due to a strong college commitment. He hit .471 with 21 steals in junior college in 2007. In 2008, he transferred to Oklahoma and batted .344/.424/.491 with 58 runs and 20 steals (in 21 tries) in 63 games. He was 10th in the Big 12 Conference in runs and third in steals. He hit .250/.353/.379 for the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League.

As a junior at Oklahoma, he produced at a .353/.461/.612 clip with 76 runs, 13 homers, 44 RBI and 18 steals in 20 tries over 63 games. He led the Big 12 in runs, was second in hits (90), was second in total bases (156), tied for 6th in doubles (17), tied for second in triples (5), tied for 8th in home runs, was 6th in steals and tied for 4th in walks (41). He made All-Big 12 in the outfield. He tied for 16th in NCAA Division I in runs. He did sign after he was taken in the 7th round of the 2009 amateur draft, three slots ahead of Ian Krol. The scout was Chris Wimmer.

Pro Career

In his first professional season, he hit .241/.345/.367 with 38 runs scored in 73 games for the Oneonta Tigers. He led New York-Penn League outfielders in putouts (159) and total chances (167). He tied Aaron Baker for the league lead in triples and was 5th with 41 walks. Despite his short season, he tied Ben Guez and Brennan Boesch for third in the Tigers chain in triples.

In 2010, he hit .283/.413/.388 with 76 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and 98 walks (to 76 strikeouts) in 122 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps. He also had 15 outfield assists. He was among the Midwest League leaders in OBP (5th, between Cutter Dykstra and Tyler Bortnick) and walks (2nd, 28 behind Conner Crumbliss). In the minor leagues, he was 4th in walks behind Crumbliss, Francisco Mendez and Vince Belnome. Baseball America rated him as having the best strike-zone discipline in the Tigers chain.

He hit .275/.376/.278 with 93 runs, 33 doubles, 14 stolen bases and 84 walks in 137 games for the Erie SeaWolves in 2011. He fielded .990 and had 12 assists. He led the Eastern League in runs (two ahead of Starling Marte) and walks (5 ahead of Matt Rizzotti). He led Tigers farmhands in runs (18 ahead of #2 Jordan Lennerton) and was second in walks (8 behind Lennerton). He was 10th in the affiliated minors in walks. He hit .323/.425/.468 in the winter for the Cañeros de Los Mochis. Baseball America again said he had the best strike-zone discipline in the Tigers organization.

He split 2012 between the SeaWolves (116 games) and Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens (10 games), hitting a combined .276/.353/.337 with 14 stolen bases and 60 walks (51 strikeouts) in 126 games. He fielded .992. He had the second-lowest K rate in the Eastern League and was 4th in the Tigers chain in walks (between Eugenio Suarez and Tyler Collins). He hit .268/.373/.310 for Los Mochis. He hit .273/.420/.342 with 27 stolen bases (in 34 tries) and 101 walks (74 strikeouts) in 123 games for Erie in 2013 and had 14 assists. He was second in the EL in OBP (.016 behind Allan Dykstra), second in walks (one behind Dykstra) and 5th in steals. In the Tigers chain, he tied Collins and Danny Dorn for 6th in runs, was third in steals (after Austin Schotts and Hernan Perez), led in walks (17 more than #2 Lennerton) and led in OBP (.002 ahead of Devon Travis). In all of the minor leagues, he tied Ryan Still for 6th in walks. With Los Mochis, he batted .257/.402/.347 with 34 walks in 42 games. He tied Mark Hamilton for 5th in the Mexican Pacific League in free passes and would have been third in OBP had he qualified (behind Brian Burgamy and Jerry Owens). In 2014, he batted .358/.348/.359 with 11 stolen bases in 118 games for Erie.

Overall, he batted .270/.378/.362 with 447 walks, 395 strikeouts and 84 stolen bases in 699 games.

Sources

• 2014 Tigers Media Guide
• Oklahoma bio
• Cape Cod Baseball
• The Baseball Cube
• MILB.com
• 2010 Baseball Almanac