Ryan Johnson (minors04)

Ryan Johannes Johnson

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 5", Weight 225 lb.
• School Lubbock Christian University, College of Southern Idaho, Crowder College
• High School Bellerose Composite High School

• Born September 29, 1992 in Winnipeg, MB CAN

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Ryan Johnson has pitched in the independent leagues, Bundesliga and Extraliga and has been on the Czech national team.

He hit .333 and struck out 1.4 batters per inning as a junior college freshman at Crowder College, then had a 6-7, 3.18 record and .193 opponent average at Southern Idaho as a sophomore in 2013. He then spent some time with the Weyburn Beavers in the Western Canadian Baseball League, setting franchise records for career wins (23) and strikeouts (253). He next surfaced in the US in 2017 at Lubbock Christian and redshirted, then was 6-5 with a team-leading 3.30 ERA in 2018; at age 25, he was certainly on the old side for the college ranks. During 2019, he had a 13-2, 2.54 record with 117 K in 106 1/3 innings. He easily led the Heartland Conference in both wins and whiffs. He was second in ERA and won Heartland Pitcher of the Year.

Returning to his native Winnipeg, he had a 1-4, 5.00 record for the 2019 Winnipeg Goldeyes. He signed with Germany's Solingen Alligators for 2020, going 0-3 with a 4.38 ERA but hitting .387/.457/.742 in limited action. Moving to the Czech Extraliga, he signed with the Třebíč Nuclears. He went 3-5 with a 1.78 ERA in 2021 and batted .333/.482/.621. He was 7th in slugging, tied for 7th in walks (19), 9th in OBP, 3th in IP, 4th in K and 7th in ERA (between Wes Roemer and Joey Wagman).

In 2022, he had a 7-4, 2.08 record with 3 saves and 96 K in 82 1/3 innings but his hitting fell to .293/.380/.495. The next year, he rebounded at the plate, batting .371/.439/.586. He regressed to 4-4, 3.15 on the hill, though. He made numerous leaderboards on both offense and pitching. He slumped to 2-5, 3.67 and .283/.365/.442 for the 2024 Nuclears; in the round-robin phase, his only top-10 finish was in RBI.

Johnson produced at a .500/.579/1.000 clip with 5 RBI in four games for the Nuclears in the 2025 European Champions Cup and allowed one unearned run in three innings; he homered off Tommy Sommer and Samuel Steigert. He trailed only Marek Krejčiřík and Simon Gühring in average, trailed Krejčiřík and Billy Germaine in slugging, tied Maurice Bendrien for third in OBP and tied Pavel Jozek for third in dingers. In the Extraliga that summer, he was at .300/.411/.544 and 2-3, 2.01. He then joined the Czechs for the 2025 European Championship. He debuted against Germany, relieving Michael Senay in the 5th with a 5-0 deficit, two outs and none on. He struck out Simon Bäumer to end the inning. Eric Brenk led off the 6th with a hit but Vincent Ahrens hit into a double play. Danny Lankhorst reached on an error then was caught stealing. After Darrion Richards and Alex Schmidt opened the 7th with hits, Jan Tomek took over and escaped the jam. He saved their 4-3 win over Israel, succeeding Tomek in the 9th with the tying run on third and two outs. He got Jake Arnow to ground out to end it. Starting against Italy in the semifinals, he allowed two runs in 3 1/3 IP (4 H, 1 K), giving way to Senay; he lost to Mattia Aldegheri. In the Bronze Medal Game, he was a defensive sub for 1B Martin Mužík and struck out against Spain's Peter Bonilla. The Czechs won, their first medal ever in a European Championship.