Joel Johnson (Sweden)

Joel Johnson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• School Covenant College
• High School Eastwood Christian High School

• Born April 1, 1996 in Alingsas Sweden

Biographical Information

Joel Johnson has played for the Swedish national team as have his brothers Daniel Johnson and Ben Johnson.

His father was an American missionary in Sweden who had played college baseball in the US and his mother was Swedish. He hit .250/.400/.333 for Sweden in the 2012 European Junior Championship Qualifiers. He was 0 for 2 with a walk for Covenant College in 2015. He made Sweden's senior team for the first time in the 2015 European B-Level Championship and the second baseman did very well, scoring four times in the opener against Lithuania. Down 5-4 in the 9th against Israel, with Sweden in danger of missing the European Championship for the first time since 1960, he led off with a triple off Shlomo Lipetz and scored on a Peter Johannessen double to tie it as Sweden rallied to win. In the round-robin phase, he had hit .400/.444/.720 with 11 runs in 5 games but fielding .897. He was 10th in average, 4th in slugging (between Johannessen and Eitan Maoz), tied Johannessen for the most runs, tied for 2nd in hits (one behind Magnus Pilegård), tied Aric Weinberg for the most total bases (18) and tied Simon Rosenbaum for the most homers (2). In the finale, against Austria, he was 2 for 6 with a double and a run from the leadoff spot in a 8-5 win and had one assist at second.

He hit .237/.357/.322 for Covenant in the 2015-2016 college season. He then debuted in Sweden's Elitserien that summer, hitting .388/.476/.566 for the Sölvesborg Firehawks at age 20. He was 3rd in average, 6th in OBP, 4th in slugging, tied for 2nd with 32 RBI (10 behind leader Johan Klarberg), tied Jason Ochart for the home run lead (4) and led third basemen in fielding (.949). He hit .348/.464/.435 for the Firehawks in the 2016 Federations Cup. In the 2016 European Championship, he scored three runs against Russia and had Sweden's only run in a loss to the Czech national team. In the 7th/8th place game, he was 3 for 5 with a double, steal and run in a 7-5 loss to France. For the Euros, he led Sweden in average (.385, .052 ahead of Matt Merrifield), runs (8, double anyone else) and hits (10, 2 ahead of Merrifield and Klarberg). He fielded .971 and was second on the team in slugging (.045 behind Merrifield) and OBP (.127 behind Johannessen). He tied for 5th in the event in both runs and doubles (4).

Johnson had a solid junior year of college, producing at a .308/.377/.483 clip. He fell to .336/.445/.483 in his second season with the Firehawks but they won their first Elitserien title. He finished 4th in the league with 23 RBI (one behind his brother) and led the league with 25 walks. He batted .319/.390/.563 as a senior for Covenant.

In the 2018 Federations Cup, he hit .409/.481/.500 with 8 runs in 5 games in the round-robin for Sölvesborg. He was 10th in average, tied for 5th in runs and tied for first with four steals. In the finale, against the Astros Valencia, he was 3 for 4 with a triple, run and 3 RBI in a loss.