There are players on a team in a given year where there should be a role for them, but there isn’t. With pitchers, sometimes that role is a “we need you to be able to go back and forth between the majors and minors” type role. Those pitchers whose careers are in that mode right now have value to teams that want to cycle fresh arms in and out of the bullpen. Seth Johnson was one of those arms for the Phillies this past year, but that role has likely changed. This year, it should become something more
permanent.
2025 stats
10 G, 12 2/3 IP, 3 HR, 31.5 K%, 7.4 BB%, 4.26 ERA (4.48 FIP)
What went right
Compared to his MLB debut the year before, Johnson’s 2025 season is a relative success. He was up for a bit and didn’t embarrass himself.
What went wrong
About the only thing that went really wrong for Johnson was that he used up his final minor league option. He can’t just ride the minor league shuttle numerous times in a season anymore. Now, the Phillies have added him to their 40-man roster and need to keep him in the majors, lest they designate him for assignment and lose his services.
The future with the Phillies
The team doesn’t have much in the way of pitchers that can be called on from the bullpen to log a few innings each appearance. What they are mostly stocked with is pitchers that give an inning and step aside for the next reliever. If Johnson can establish himself as a pitcher that can go more than one inning in any given outing, depending on what is asked of him that night, that is a role the team can use him in efficiently. That strikeout rate is nothing to sneeze at, as is the relatively solid walk rate that he had in his brief time in Philadelphia. There’s a role to be had for him.
