Phillies reportedly set to call up Seth Johnson

The Philadelphia Phillies are calling up RHP Seth Johnson to pitch Sunday against the Miami Marlins, according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.

This move represents a relatively meteoric rise for Johnson. While he’s 25 years old and a former first-round pick, Johnson was assigned to Double-A Reading when the Phillies acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles in return for reliever Gregory Soto at the trade deadline. He’s only made three starts at Triple-A to this point.

But the Phillies evidently believe Johnson is ready, and certainly they have a need at No. 5 starter considering Taijuan Walker is now pitching out of the bullpen, Tyler Phillips was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after getting shelled Tuesday in Toronto and Kolby Allard isn’t eligible to be recalled until Sept. 10.

Johnson posted a 3.52 ERA across a pair of starts at Double-A Reading before being promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he was dominant in three outings, as evidenced by his 0.56 ERA. Between Baltimore and Philadelphia’s system this year, Johnson has a 2.33 ERA across 88 2/3 innings pitched.

If all goes well against the lowly Marlins, perhaps Johnson will be the No. 5 starter for the final few weeks of the regular season. It’s also possible that he makes just one start for the Phillies, bridging the gap until Allard is eligible to return.

Phillies Nation‘s Ty Daubert did a tremendous feature story on Johnson recently that’s worth your time:

Prospect Seth Johnson settling in with Phillies organization after deadline trade, ‘weird’ start to career

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