Hard-Throwing Reliever, Depth Starter Among Phillies Cuts Thursday

Another member of the Phillies' crowded bullpen battle was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday: hard-throwing 27-year-old right-hander Seth Johnson.

Johnson pitched well in camp with a 1.86 ERA and .173 opponents' batting average in eight appearances. His four-seam fastball averaged 98 mph and his sinker averaged 96.

Johnson also showed better command of his slider (20% swinging strike rate) and changeup. He held Grapefruit League hitters to 2-for-13 in at-bats ending in the pitch.

The Phillies acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles at the 2024 trade deadline for left-handed reliever Gregory Soto. Johnson was a starting pitcher at that time, and he started his MLB debut for the Phillies in Miami on Sept. 8, 2024. It was a rough outing, and by the following April, the Phils had converted him to relief.

Johnson made 39 appearances at Triple-A last season for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The first four were starts, the next 35 came in relief. He struck out 67 batters in 60⅔ innings but walked 35, far too many. Walks have been a consistent issue throughout Johnson's minor-league career.

He is in play to serve as the IronPigs' closer this season and could find himself up in the majors again with the Phillies based on his performance or via injuries in the bullpen.

Impact on bullpen battle

With Johnson optioned to Triple-A, the remainder of the Phillies' bullpen competition includes right-handers Zach Pop, Chase Shugart, Lou Trivino, Zach McCambley, Trevor Richards and Jonathan Hernandez, and lefties Tim Mayza and Genesis Cabrera. Another righty, Max Lazar, was in the mix until suffering an abdominal/oblique injury with Team Italy during the World Baseball Classic.

Everyone from that group will be fighting for one bullpen spot if lefty Kyle Backhus claims the other vacancy and Orion Kerkering (hamstring) is ready to go by Opening Day.

Trivino and Mayza can opt out and become free agents if they aren't guaranteed an Opening Day roster spot by Saturday.

Two catchers reassigned

The Phillies also reassigned four players not on their 40-man roster to minor-league camp. Two were catchers, Rene Pinto and Paul McIntosh. The need for spring training catching depth is lessened at this point in camp with only four days left after Thursday.

The only three backstops who remain in camp are J.T. Realmuto, Rafael Marchan and Garrett Stubbs. One of Marchan or Stubbs will be the odd man out on the Opening Day roster.

McIntosh played in 12 games with the Phillies this spring after appearing in eight a year ago. He came over with Jesus Luzardo in the December 2024 trade from Miami in exchange for prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd.

Two fewer arms

The other two reassignments were 28-year-old right-handed starter Bryse Wilson (28) and 30-year-old left-handed starter Tucker Davidson. Wilson and 24-year-old Jean Cabrera are seventh and eighth on the Phillies' starting pitching depth chart after Cristopher Sanchez, Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter and Zack Wheeler, who is charging toward a potential April return.

Wilson, a sinkerballer, appeared in four Grapefruit League games, three of them starts. He allowed four runs and 17 baserunners over 10 innings. He struggled mightily last season with the White Sox but experienced some success in 2023 and '24 with the Brewers with a 3.42 ERA in 87 appearances, nine starts.

Davidson spent most of last season in Korea, where he pitched to a 3.65 ERA in 22 starts. He was waived by his KBO team last August when it signed former Phillie Vince Velasquez. He came back to the States on a minor-league deal with the Brewers and made six starts at Triple A down the stretch.

Davidson has made 56 big-league appearances since 2020 with 17 starts, most of them in 2022 with the Angels and Braves. He has not pitched well in the majors as a starter or reliever but has struck out 265 in 263 career innings at Triple A with a 3.87 ERA.

Wilson will be part of the Triple-A rotation and Davidson might be, too. Davidson was not stretched out throughout spring training the way Wilson was, appearing in just two covering three innings. He allowed seven runs (four earned) and put 10 men on base.