Seth Johnson (baseball)

Seth Johnson
Johnson with the Charleston RiverDogs in 2021
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 51
Pitcher
Born: (1998-09-19) September 19, 1998 (age 26) Concord, North Carolina, U.S.
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 8, 2024, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics (through September 8, 2024)
Win–loss record	0–1
Earned run average	34.71
Strikeouts	0
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (2024–present)

Seth William Johnson (born September 19, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Amateur career

Johnson attended Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, North Carolina, where he played baseball. After graduating in 2016, he enrolled at Louisburg College. At Louisburg, he played mainly as a shortstop, hitting a combined .254 with nine home runs in his two seasons there.^[1][2] During his career at Louisburg, he pitched a total of six innings.^[3] After his sophomore year, he transferred to Campbell University and began focusing solely on pitching.^[4] In 2019, his junior year at Campbell, he appeared in 14 games (11 starts), going 3–3 with a 4.61 ERA, striking out 81 batters over 66+1⁄3 innings.^[5]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Johnson with the 40th overall pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.^[6][7] He received a signing bonus of $1.72 million and made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Rays.^[8] After pitching ten scoreless innings over five games, he was promoted to the Princeton Rays of the Rookie Advanced Appalachian League in August, with whom he finished the season, going 0–1 with a 5.14 ERA over seven innings.^[9]

Johnson did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] He was assigned to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Low-A East for the 2021 season.^[11] He appeared in 23 games (making 16 starts), pitching to a 6–6 record, a 2.88 ERA, and 115 strikeouts over 93+2⁄3 innings.^[12][13] He was assigned to the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the High-A South Atlantic League to open the 2022 season.^[14] In late May, he was placed on the injured list with forearm inflammation.^[15] It was later announced that he had torn his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and would be undergoing Tommy John surgery. Over 27 innings prior to the injury, he posted a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts.^[16]

Baltimore Orioles

The Rays traded Johnson to the Baltimore Orioles in a three-team trade on August 1, 2022, in which the Rays acquired José Siri from the Houston Astros, the Astros acquired Trey Mancini from Baltimore and Jayden Murray from Tampa Bay, and the Orioles also acquired Chayce McDermott from the Astros.^[17]

On November 15, 2022, the Orioles selected Johnson's contract and added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.^[18] Johnson was optioned to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides to begin the 2023 season.^[19] He made rehab appearances for the rookie–level Florida Complex League Orioles, Single–A Delmarva Shorebirds, High–A Aberdeen IronBirds, and Double–A Bowie Baysox as he continued his recovery from surgery. Johnson was again optioned to Triple–A Norfolk to begin the 2024 season.^[20] However, he instead began the campaign with Bowie, and compiled a 2.63 ERA with 61 strikeouts over 18 starts.^[21]

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 30, 2024, the Orioles traded Johnson and High–A pitcher Moisés Chace to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for reliever Gregory Soto.^[22][21] He was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on September 8.^[23][24]

References

1. Friedl, Brett; er (May 22, 2019). "MLB teams eye NC products ahead of draft".
2. "Seth Johnson transforms into MLB draft prospect – BPJ". Baseball Prospect Journal. March 28, 2019.
3. Writer, ERIC OLSON AP Sports. "Things to know about NCAA baseball regionals". The Greenwood Commonwealth.
4. "Top North Carolina 2019 MLB Draft Prospects". Baseballamerica.com. May 30, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
5. "Rays Take Pitchers With Both Compensation Picks". 95.3 WDAE.
6. "Rays stockpile pitching on Day 1 of draft". Tampa Bay Times. June 4, 2019.
7. Batten, Sammy. "Campbell hurler Johnson taken 40th overall in MLB draft". The Fayetteville Observer.
8. "MLB Draft Tracker". MLB.com.
9. "Under-The-Radar Prospects 2021: AL East".
10. "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com.
11. "RiverDogs Announce 2021 Roster".
12. "8 new things about the Charleston RiverDogs' 2021 'normalcy' season".
13. "Standout Rays prospects from the '21 season". MLB.com.
14. "2022 Hot Rods Roster Revealed". April 7, 2022.
15. "Rays' Seth Johnson: Dealing with forearm inflammation".
16. "Orioles' Seth Johnson: Needs TJS, traded in three-teamer".
17. Silver, Zachary. "Astros acquire Mancini from O's in 3-team trade". MLB.com.
18. "Orioles add Grayson Rodriguez, 4 other prospects to 40-man roster for Rule 5 draft protection".
19. "Orioles' Seth Johnson: Optioned to minors". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
20. "Orioles' Seth Johnson: Sent to minor-league camp". cbssports.com. March 9, 2024.
21. "Orioles acquire Gregory Soto from Phillies for Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace". MASN. July 30, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
22. Hagen, Paul (July 30, 2024). "Phillies trade Gregory Soto to Orioles for pair of right-handed pitching prospects". NBC Sports Philadelphia. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
23. "Phillies place Edmundo Sosa (back) on IL, recall Seth Johnson". ESPN.com. September 8, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
24. "Phillies recall Johnson; place Sosa on 10-day injured list". MLB.com. September 8, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Campbell Camels bio