What exactly is he moving forward?
Acquired from the Orioles along with Moises Chace in the Gregory Soto deal, Johnson made the trade look like something of a steal. We already have seen Chace start to take a leap up the prospect rankings that are slowly being rolled out, but at the time, Johnson was no slouch either. At the time, Fangraphs rated Johnson as the 20th best out of 92 prospects dealt at the trading deadline, ahead of even Chace.
Mid-90s starter still building back from TJ. Pitch mix and command are more typical of a good reliever than a starter. He’s on the 40-man right now.
As the return for Soto, that’s nothing to sneeze at. He was probably going to get a spot start for the team in 2024 and he did just that.
It didn’t go well.
2024 stats: 1 GS, 2 1⁄3 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 3 BB, 0 K, 34.71 ERA (12.60 FIP), -0.1 fWAR
What went right
Hey, he made it to the major leagues right? That’s got to count for something!
If we’re talking strictly about how Johnson fared in the majors, well, the best thing one can say is that he now has a Baseball Reference page. Getting to the major leagues and pitching is no small feat and Johnson did that.
What went wrong
When you watch how he actually pitched once he made it to the major leagues, then the bloom falls off the rose a bit.
Just watching his start, you could see the young man was nervous. Control was more of a suggestion than an actual practice Johnson could turn into something during the game. He allowed a home run and wasn’t able to strike anyone out. As far as debuts go, it’s not exactly the one he was envisioning for himself.
The future with the Phillies
So now, what does the team do?
Johnson occupies a spot on the 40 man roster, justifiably once you consider how his pedigree was once he was moved to the Phillies. With just about every single team looking for starting pitching depth to stash in the minors, being able to keep Johnson at Lehigh Valley in case of emergency is something the team is going to value. They can continue to keep their player development hands on him and try to figure out his role moving forward with the team.
But what is that role?
Up above, you see Fangraphs refer to his stuff as better suited for a relief spot. Baseball Prospectus, looking at the 2024 crop of Orioles prospects, had Johnson in a starting role, saying “[t]he top-end velocity is already back, the overall command and feel for his offspeed isn’t. This is all quite normal at this point in the rehab/recovery process and he maintains the same kind of mid-rotation upside he had in the Rays org.” There are two thoughts that Johnson could go either way, but if the Phillies were smart, they’d keep him moving along in a starting role until he pitches himself out of it.
Minor league depth isn’t exactly something the team is blessed with. Trading away George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri, two of their closest to the majors prospects, last year hurt them, but Johnson and Chace are probably two of the more ready pitching prospects the team has that aren’t named Andrew Painter. Even though the first go ‘round on a major league mound wasn’t so hot, Johnson should be able to improve if given another chance. The Phillies would be wise to keep him on that track.