Griffin Burkholder

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #7 prospect in 2025
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme.
  
  Track Record: After two seasons at Louisburg (N.C.) JC as a shortstop, Johnson transferred to Campbell for his draft year. There, he got on the mound and showed off a raw, intriguing pitch mix headed by a fastball in the low 90s and a pair of breaking balls. He quickly added a changeup, as well. The Rays drafted him 40th overall in 2019, and he was traded to Baltimore on Aug. 1, 2022, two days before having Tommy John surgery. The Orioles added him to the 40-man roster for 2024 and then traded him to the Phillies in the deal for reliever Gregory Soto. His big league debut came on Sept. 8.
  
  Scouting Report: Johnson pitched just 10.1 innings in 2023 before being fully unleashed post-surgery in 2024. Between both organizations, Johnson utilized an interesting pitch mix led by a fastball averaging around 96 mph and featuring more than 19 inches of induced vertical break. The righthander backed his fastball with a curveball tabbed by internal officials as the best in the system, plus a short, sharp cutter and a changeup. His curve isn’t a deep breaker but it was effective enough—especially against lefthanders—to garner a whiff rate of nearly 40%. Johnson’s changeup isn’t thrown nearly as often as his other offspeed pitches, but it could be fringe-average with further development. The next step will be improving his control, especially when it comes to landing strikes earlier in counts. Both his curveball and cutter have above-average potential, but he’ll need one to become a true out pitch to help him reach his ceiling.
  
  The Future: Johnson should get a chance in spring training to earn a spot on the Phillies’ staff. If not, he’ll head back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for more seasoning. He has a chance to be a back-end starter.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55. CUT: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 40
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #50 prospect in 2024 draft
  School: Freedom HS, South Riding, Va. Commit/Drafted: West Virginia
  Age At Draft: 18.9
  BA Grade: 55/Extreme
  Tools: Hit: 50. Power: 50. Run: 70. Field: 55. Arm: 55.
  
  Burkholder is a power-speed outfielder with solid physicality and a 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame. His tools and athleticism make him one of the most intriguing prep outfielders in the class and a player to dream on. Burkholder sets up with a slightly wide and crouched stance at the plate and has a soft hand hitch in his load that can create some timing issues, but he also makes sound swing decisions and has a mechanically sound swing. He hits enough for scouts to think he has a chance for an average hit tool, and his two-strike adjustments and batting eye are also encouraging. Burkholder’s swing can get a bit long, though, and he misses just enough to wonder if he’ll ever be an above-average pure hitter. He’s got plenty of strength and should grow into plus raw power in the future, but his pure speed is likely his loudest tool at the moment. While Burkholder has been hampered by a hamstring injury this spring, he’s been a 70-grade runner when healthy with impressive acceleration out of the box and long, athletic strides. That should allow him to play all three outfield positions and play them well, with an above-average arm that could allow him to become a plus defender in right field. Burkholder is day one talent committed to West Virginia.
• Ranked #92 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: East Forsyth HS, Kernersville, N.C. Committed/Drafted: Florida
  Age At Draft: 18.6
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 65 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 50
  Isaac didn’t play on the showcase circuit during the 2021 summer after dealing with a foot injury. If he had, his prodigious raw power might have made him one of the more famous players in the class. Isaac is an extra-large, 6-foot-4, 240-pound first baseman who has monstrous raw power and bat speed. He hits towering home runs to all fields in batting practice—to the point where scouts don’t seem to hesitate when grading him out with 80 raw power. Because of his first base-only profile and lack of track record against top competition during the summer, Isaac is bound to be a polarizing prospect in the industry. More conservative teams reliant on that history to get more confidence in Isaac’s hit tool might be more willing to let him get to campus at Florida and prove his hitting ability. There are other teams that have seen him this spring that see a power hitter, yes, but one who has shown solid hitting traits as well. It might be hard to find a player who is more high-risk, high-reward than Isaac—that also makes him one of the most compelling prospects in the 2022 class.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #37 prospect in 2024

• 2024 High School Top 100 Draft Prospects
  School: Freedom HS, South Riding, Va. Committed: West Virginia
  Age At Draft: 18.9
  Burkholder is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound outfielder with impressive physicality who also pairs a solid hitting eye with double-plus speed out of the box. Burkholder sets up with a slightly wide and crouched stance at the plate, and employs a bit of a hitch in his load that can create timing issues. While he generally makes sound swing decisions, his bat path can get a bit long at times and he tends to be a pull-heavy hitter. His batting eye stands out as a strength and he does a nice job making adjustments within at-bats, and will spread out even further in a two-strike count. Burkholder gets out of the box quickly and has turned in regular 70-grade run times with solid acceleration and long, athletic strides out of the box. He should be able to play all three outfield positions and has solid arm strength that could become above-average in the future. Burkholder is committed to West Virginia.