OF Everett Johnson (@NCStateBaseball commit) is one HS player I've taken a liking to over the past handful of months. Capped off his 2024 circuit with an outstanding performance in Jupiter in which he went 10-for-15 (.667) with a pair of stolen bases and 0 strikeouts. Undersized at 5'9" and 170-lbs, but has an athletic build and is continuing to add strength. Already some present physicality, especially in his lower-half. Johnson stands in the back of the box and has a simple, slightly crouched setup with a somewhat high handset. Wiggles the bat slightly over his back shoulder as a timing mechanism. Johnson has a minimal load in which his hands drift a little bit and is a small-strider. With two strikes, Johnson will widen his base, eliminate his stride and tone down his load. Can sometimes get a little bar-armed. Plus hand speed. Compact, line drive-oriented stroke. It's a real hitterish look. Johnson is a hit-over-power profile, but his hit tool is advanced. Comfortably plus bat-to-ball skills and outstanding hand-eye coordination. From major events from 2023-2024 (according to Synergy), Johnson boasted an overall IZ contact rate of 91% - including 93% against FB. On top of his barrel ability, Johnson boasts a polished approach and sound pitch recognition skills. His swing decisions are mature, takes are active and across that same time frame he ran a sub-20% overall chase rate. Johnson has shown the ability to pepper the entire field and while it's an old adage, he does a nice job of hitting each pitch where it's thrown. Will let the ball travel and stays within his approach. As a fun cherry on top, he's an exceptional bunter. 55 hit, teetering on a 60. Johnson's power is below-average, but he could grow into more if he continues to add strength and/or gets the ball in the air more. It's gap-to-gap impact instead of over-the-fence power right now, but he's shown he can shoot either gap. Instinctual defender who has a quick first step, gets good reads off the bat and takes crisp, efficient routes to the baseball. Plus runner who has plenty of range. Made one outstanding play in Jupiter where he ranged deep into the LCF gap and made a falling catch on the warning track to prevent extra bases. Arm is fringy in CF, but his overall defensive skillset gives him a chance there. Johnson has a fantastic baseball sense that comes through in all facets of his game. His toolset enables him to have his fingerprints all over the box score night in and night out. 3rd-5th round type right now.