September 05, 2024
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
One of Dave Dombrowski's trade deadline moves already appears to be working out.
The Phillies are calling up right-handed starting pitching prospect Seth Johnson to start Sunday's game in Miami, according to a report from Kiley McDaniel of ESPN:
The Phillies are planning to call up RHP Seth Johnson to start on Sunday in Miami, per source.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) September 5, 2024
His path has been unusual: the 40th pick in the 2019 draft, but he was a junior college shortstop in 2018.
Johnson was acquired from Baltimore for Gregory Soto at the trade deadline.
As the No. 5 spot in the Phillies starting pitching rotation has become a revolving door, the Phillies and front office chief Dave Dombrowski will now turn to the 25-year-old Johnson, who was in Double-A when the team acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles on July 30 but quickly worked his way up to Triple-A. Looking to move on from lefty reliever Gregory Soto, the team traded Soto to Baltimore for Johnson and another pitching prospect, Moisés Chace, who also earned a quick promotion.
Johnson, who is in his first full season since recovering from Tommy John Surgery, may not give the Phillies a ton of length. But with the way Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez have all pitched in recent weeks — with the team hoping Ranger Suárez can find a groove beginning with his start in Miami on Thursday night — that is not too much of an issue.
The Phillies promoted Johnson to Triple-A on Aug. 15, and he has posted three excellent starts. In 16.0 total innings for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Johnson has allowed just five hits and one earned run. His 0.56 ERA and 0.69 WHIP during that stretch are pristine. Across 23 minor-league starts in 2024, Johnson has a 2.63 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 88.2 innings of work. The Phillies have appeared focused on stretching his arm out to make him capable of handling something resembling a traditional starter's workload each time he takes the mound, and he has not lost any juice in the process.
This spot in the rotation was suddenly open again after rookie Tyler Phillips returned to the majors and was knocked around by the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. Phillips failed to escape the first inning after allowing six earned runs and was optioned back to Lehigh Valley the next day. Before that, Taijuan Walker was dominated by opposing lineups time and time again.
If Johnson does not look up to the task in Miami against a weak Marlins lineup, the Phillies will be able to bring up left-hander Kolby Allard for the next time the No. 5 spot in the rotation is called upon, should they choose to do so. But for now, it is a tremendous opportunity for Johnson to take advantage of being in an organization that, despite likely having the best foursome of starters in all of baseball, has suddenly been burned by a lack of starting pitching depth.
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