Seth Johnson, 25, was the main piece the Phillies received from the Baltimore Orioles for veteran left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.

The Phillies are calling up right-handed starting pitching prospect Seth Johnson to start Sunday’s game in Miami, according to a report from Kiley McDaniel of ESPN:

As the No. 5 spot in the Phillies starting pitching rotation has become a revolving door, the Phillies and front office chief Dave Dombrowski will now turn to the 25-year-old Johnson, who was in Double-A when the team acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles on July 30 but quickly worked his way up to Triple-A. Looking to move on from lefty reliever Gregory Soto, the team traded Soto to Baltimore for Johnson and another pitching prospect, Moisés Chace, who also earned a quick promotion.

Johnson, who is in his first full season since recovering from Tommy John Surgery, may not give the Phillies a ton of length. But with the way Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez have all pitched in recent weeks — with the team hoping Ranger Suárez can find a groove beginning with his start in Miami on Thursday night — that is not too much of an issue.

The Phillies promoted Johnson to Triple-A on Aug. 15, and he has posted three excellent starts. In 16.0 total innings for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Johnson has allowed just five hits and one earned run. His 0.56 ERA and 0.69 WHIP during that stretch are pristine. Across 23 minor-league starts in 2024, Johnson has a 2.63 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 88.2 innings of work. The Phillies have appeared focused on stretching his arm out to make him capable of handling something resembling a traditional starter’s workload each time he takes the mound, and he has not lost any juice in the process.

This spot in the rotation was suddenly open again after rookie Tyler Phillips returned to the majors and was knocked around by the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. Phillips failed to escape the first inning after allowing six earned runs and was optioned back to Lehigh Valley the next day. Before that, Taijuan Walker was dominated by opposing lineups time and time again.

If Johnson does not look up to the task in Miami against a weak Marlins lineup, the Phillies will be able to bring up left-hander Kolby Allard for the next time the No. 5 spot in the rotation is called upon, should they choose to do so. But for now, it is a tremendous opportunity for Johnson to take advantage of being in an organization that, despite likely having the best foursome of starters in all of baseball, has suddenly been burned by a lack of starting pitching depth

There was a time, not too long ago, when Brandon Marsh looked completely lost. Forty-one strikeouts in 102 plate appearances, and a whole lot of other types of outs, between July 12 and Aug. 22 brought his numbers on the season — once reflective of a breakout — down to a meager .238/.314/.400. He wasn’t hitting lefties. He wasn’t hitting righties.

But much as the Phillies have pulled themselves out of their second-half slog in the last couple weeks, so has Marsh. He had three more hits (including a double) on Wednesday in the Phillies’ 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Since Aug. 23, he’s hitting .378 with a 1.138 OPS.

It’s not as though Marsh has completely done away with the strikeout bug. Even while he was heating up, he’d struck out 10 times in 29 plate appearances before the last four games. But he’s struck out just once in the last four games, drawing four walks in the process.

The upswing is coming at the right time. With 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Phillies still have to figure out exactly what outfield combination suits them best for October. His spot in the lineup, at least for now, seems to be entrenched against righties.