Johnson drops under .200 at Triple-A

Johnson was 7-for-19 in Spring Training with no homers or stolen bases, leaving him as a career .327/.411/.531 hitter in three years in big league camp. After hitting .272/.363/.382 for Double A Altoona last year as a 21-year-old, he’ll likely head to Triple-A Indianapolis in 2026.

Johnson will likely be out of action for the next few days at the very least. The 2022 first-round selection is expected to open the 2025 season with Double-A Altoona, but has an outside chance of helping the Pirates by the end of the year.

None of the quartet were expected to challenge for a spot on the Opening Day roster, so there are no real surprises among the group. Johnson, 20, was the team’s first-round selection (fourth overall) from the 2022 draft. He finished the 2024 campaign with 14 games at Double-A Altoona and that’s where he’ll open the 2025 season. The Pirates are now down to 63 players remaining on the big league side of spring camp.

Johnson went 2-for-4 with a homer before exiting with the severe cramps, but he was able to return for the celebration, and told reporters he could play Wednesday. Pittsburgh will likely have a say in that decision, but it’s good to know the 20-year-old didn’t suffer a long-term injury. Johnson has not lived up to hype since being a fourth-overall pick, but there’s plenty of time for that to change.

Johnson was promoted to Double-A earlier this week after batting .238/.372/.385 with 13 homers and 20 stelas in 487 plate appearances over 110 games for High-A Greensboro. The 20-year-old infielder, who was selected fourth overall in the 2022 MLB Draft, figures to make it to the big leagues at some point later next year.

There are some lingering questions marks for Crews in the hard contact department, but the second-overall selection from the loaded 2023 MLB Draft has been excellent this season in the upper minors, batting .267/.331/.433 with eight homers and 20 thefts in 71 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He figures to arrive in the big leagues at some point following the All-Star break. We could spend hours discussing the rest of this fascinating assortment of prospects that includes some of the fastest-rising names in fantasy circles. Here’s the rest of the senior circuit’s lineup: Justin Crawford LF, Crews RF, Termarr Johnson 2B, Bryce Eldridge 1B, Ethan Salas C, Druw Jones CF, Cam Collier 3B, Aidan Miller SS and Drake Baldwin DH.

Smith-Njigba, 24, showed off his tools during Grapefruit League play, hitting .200 (5-for-25) with three homers, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases. His time is coming soon, it just isn’t quite yet. Selby, on the other hand, struggled mightily during his spring action — registering an 11.25 ERA, 2.75 WHIP and a 4/4 K/BB ratio over his four frames. He should see action with the Pirates at some point during the 2024 season as well.

Johnson, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft, has fallen some on prospect lists after missing time and failing to hit for average last season (he came in at .244/.422/.438 in 105 games for two A-ball teams), but he’s still the best bet of the Pirates’ infield prospects to emerge as the long-term answer next to Oneil Cruz. It’s just not likely to happen until at least 2025 or maybe 2026.

The 21-year-old top prospect wound up making five appearances in his first professional season — posting a 5.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and a 10/2 K/BB ratio over 6 2/3 innings across three minor league levels. He’s a longshot to crack the Pirates’ Opening Day rotation, but don’t be surprised if we see him at some point in 2024. The 12 other players invited to major league spring training were INF Andres Alvarez, C Carter Bins, INF Jack Brannigan, RHP Bubba Chandler, OF Matt Gorski, C Abrahan Gutierrez, RHP Thomas Harrington, INF Termarr Johnson, RHP Jared Jones, INF Joe Perez, LHP Anthony Solameto and RHP Sean Sullivan.

Johnson was hurt two weeks ago, so he has at least another four weeks to go before he’ll start ramping up again. The 2022 first-round pick is likely to head to A-ball once healthy.