Philadelphia Phillies Reportedly Adding Top Pitching Prospect to Their Rotation

The Philadelphia Phillies will be adding their newest top pitching prospect to their rotation to see what he can do.

May 26, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Despite the Philadelphia Phillies' four star starting pitchers putting together strong performances on a consistent basis, there are still some concerns about this rotation because their fifth spot has been a complete disaster in recent months.

After starting the year on the injured list, Taijuan Walker has been a shell of himself. This forced the Phillies to finally move him into the bullpen where he likely spends the rest of the season as he continues to work on things to get his form back.

But following another brutal outing by Tyler Phillips that got him optioned back down the minors, there was some thought that Philadelphia might just reinsert the veteran into their rotation since they had few options with Kolby Allard not eligible to return until next week.

However, it seems like the organization has another thought in mind.

According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, the Phillies are going to call up Seth Johnson for his Major League debut on Sunday.

Acquired at the trade deadline from the Baltimore Orioles in the Gregory Soto deal, the right-hander has the makings of a future star as he's looked extremely sharp in his comeback from Tommy John surgery that limited him to 12 starts from 2022-23.

Johnson has enjoyed his time with Philadelphia, saying he's excited about the opportunity to be with his new club, and now later this weekend, it sounds like he'll get a shot to prove he can command that fifth rotation spot the rest of the regular season.

Currently ranked No. 15 in the Phillies' farm system, he's also the fourth-highest rated pitcher in their pipeline behind only Andrew Painter, Mick Abel and Jean Cabrera.

Johnson has a remarkable 2.70 ERA across his 67 minor league outings that includes 60 starts.

Across three starts with Philadelphia's Triple-A affiliate, he has given up only one run on five hits in 16 innings, striking out 13 batters and holding the opposing lineups to a .094 batting average.

He's certainly someone to keep an eye on as he could become a future impact pitcher with the Phillies for years to come.