ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The clock hit 6 p.m. on July 30, and Seth Johnson thought he was in the clear.
Johnson figured he was a trade candidate as he waited out the deadline on a “little stressful” day inside the clubhouse at the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate in Bowie, Md. But once 6 o’clock passed and the right-hander hadn’t heard any news, he thought he’d be staying put.
Then Matt Blood, Baltimore’s vice president of player development and scouting, called. The team swung a last-minute trade with Philadelphia for reliever Gregory Soto. Johnson was heading to the Phillies organization.
“It’s been chaotic, but it’s good,” the prospect said earlier this week at Coca-Cola Park, home of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. “I’m starting to get my feet under me, especially being in the same spot for more than a week. It’s been good.”
The Phillies dealt the hard-throwing but erratic Soto from their bullpen in exchange for Johnson and fellow pitching prospect Moisés Chace. Johnson was assigned to Double-A Reading for two starts, then promoted to Triple-A for the very first time on Aug. 15. He’s been settling in with the IronPigs amid a whirlwind month.
“It’s a welcome change and I’m happy to be here,” he said.
Johnson, a starting pitcher with a heavy fastball-slider combination, has posted a 0.56 ERA in three starts for Lehigh Valley. He’s allowed just one run in 16 innings with the team, and he threw six scoreless innings against Syracuse on Friday night. At 25 years old, he’s happy to finally be in Triple-A and finding success.
“It’s cool,” Johnson said. “It feels like it’s been a long time coming, just because my baseball career has been a little…”
He paused to find the right word. “I don’t know — weird?” he continued.
The 40th overall draft pick by Tampa Bay in 2019, Johnson’s journey to the Phillies system was far from conventional. He was traded twice in the span of two calendar years, all while managing Tommy John surgery and recovery on his pitching elbow.
Johnson said he was two days away from surgery when he was traded from the Rays organization to Baltimore as part of a three-team deal that sent Jose Siri to Tampa Bay and Trey Mancini to Houston during the 2022 season. He viewed it as a fresh start with the Orioles, an opportunity to “rebuild” himself as a pitcher while rehabbing from the surgery.
The righty returned to pitch 10 ⅓ innings across five minor-league appearances in 2023. This year has been his first full season since the surgery. Johnson had a solid showing in Bowie before carrying that foundation over to the Phillies’ farm to this point. His new organization has been pleased with the results and the way he carries himself at the ballpark.
“So far, he’s played the part,” IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said. “I like his demeanor. I like his work ethic. He’s a very quiet guy that goes about his business the right way.”
Contreras noted the adversity that his new pitcher has experienced and overcome in his career. On top of injury, Johnson has bounced between organizations while working his way back to health and pitching well. The manager believes that Johnson’s unique perspective could allow him to better handle the ups-and-downs of the game moving forward.
“I think going through all those different transitions, getting traded, doing all that stuff, it adds some callous to the brain, to the body,” Contreras said. “He’s learning how to navigate through different environments and different teams and different emotions and feelings that come along with getting traded and put in other organizations.
“And he’s only 25 years old, so … we’re excited to see what that looks like over the next three to five years and how he can develop into, hopefully, a strong starting pitcher.”
It’s reasonable to expect that Johnson could be a factor at the major-league level for the Phillies as soon as next year if the team is in need of starter depth. But a call-up during the remainder of this season seems less likely, even as the club finds itself without a clear answer for the No. 5 spot in its rotation. Johnson has already amassed 88 ⅔ innings across 23 starts in 2024. He should pass his previous career high of 93 ⅔ innings from 2021 when he made 16 starts in 23 total outings. The pitcher has a single goal to close out this season.
“Just finish strong and stay healthy,” Johnson said. “I’ve been able to find a good routine for the body, so just make sure I’m taking care of that.”
That should be in reach for Johnson, setting him up to keep building with the Phillies. And even though they’ve only been together for a short time, his manager believes the young starter has put himself in a promising position.
“To a tee, he takes care of himself,” Contreras said. “Guys that do that get rewarded on the field. And up to this point with us, he’s been pretty good.”
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