With the offseason rolling on, the Tampa Bay Rays recently got a massive influx of talent into their farm system following a couple of trades. Now, the group is becoming even stronger. 

It has been an interesting offseason for the Rays so far, with the team seemingly being both a buyer and seller so far. Tampa Bay started out the winter with the signings of three veterans to help improve some areas of need. The Rays added Cedric Mullins, Jake Fraley, and Steven Matz to help provide support for the outfield and the starting rotation. 

Following those moves that indicated the team was trying to be a contender in 2025, the team then traded Brandon Lowe and Shane Baz for a haul of prospects. The decision to trade Lowe, especially, is one that is going to have a massive impact on the offense and replacing that production is going to be challenging. However, this is now a loaded farm system for Tampa Bay, and that is exciting to think about. 

While there is a plethora of new talent coming in, the Rays had a pitcher in 2025 who was elite in the minors for a key metric. Recently, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo of MLB wrote about pitcher Ty Johnson from Tampa Bay and his elite strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

Johnson Elite in Key Statistic Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash

Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

According to MLB, among pitchers with 100 innings pitched in the minors, Johnson was only behind New York Mets starter Jonah Tong in K/BB at 25.8. These are some elite numbers for the talented prospect of the Rays and being in the same conversation as Tong is good company. 

Currently, the 24-year-old is coming off a strong campaign in 2025 in Double-A, and he will be seeking to take the next step forward in 2026. Depending on how he performs in the minors and what the starting rotation looks like next year, he very well could be a potential call-up candidate late in the year. 

With the ability to strike batters out and limit walks, Johnson is a very appealing prospect to keep an eye on. Pitchers who have a strong K/BB rate generally have success with their ability to keep opposing batters off the base paths. 

Johnson was part of the trade that sent Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs, and with Christopher Morel already not working out for the team, the Rays will hope for Johnson to continue to develop to avoid that deal being a complete disaster. With an elite ability at a key statistic, he is undoubtedly on his way toward accomplishing that. 

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