Seth William Johnson (born September 19, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career

Johnson attended

Jay M. Robinson High School Jay M. Robinson High School, often referred to as Robinson, JMR, or JRob by students, is a comprehensive public high school located in Concord, North Carolina. It is the fifth high school of the Cabarrus County Schools system, opening its doo ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...

, where he played

. After graduating in 2016, he enrolled at

Louisburg College Louisburg College is a private Methodist-affiliated two-year college in Louisburg, North Carolina. History Louisburg College has its roots in two schools: Franklin Male Academy, which was chartered in 1787, re-chartered in 1802 but held it ...

. At Louisburg, he played mainly as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, hitting a combined .254 with nine home runs in his two seasons there. During his career at Louisburg, he pitched a total of six innings. After his sophomore year, he transferred to

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Christian university in Buies Creek, North Carolina, United States. Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek is home to its College of Arts & Sciences, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Divinity School, Scho ...

and began focusing solely on pitching. 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 innings.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

selected Johnson with the 40th overall pick in the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

. He received a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $1.72 million and made his professional debut with the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Gulf Coast League Rays. After pitching ten scoreless innings over five games, he was promoted to the

Princeton Rays The Princeton Rays were a Minor League Baseball team in Princeton, West Virginia, operating as an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with several Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises, primarily the Ta ...

of the

Rookie Advanced Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

in August, with whom he finished the season, going 0–1 with a 5.14 ERA over seven innings. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was assigned to the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Char ...

of the

Low-A East The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

for the 2021 season. He appeared in 23 games (making 16 starts), pitching to a 6–6 record, a 2.88 ERA, and 115 strikeouts over innings. He was assigned to the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

to open the 2022 season. In late May, he was placed on the injured list with forearm inflammation. It was later announced that he had torn his

ulnar collateral ligament Ulnar collateral ligament (or UCL) may refer to: * Ulnar carpal collateral ligament * Ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspec ...

in his elbow and would be undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. Over 27 innings prior to the injury, he posted a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts.

Baltimore Orioles

The Rays traded Johnson to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

in a three-team trade on August 1, 2022, in which the Rays acquired

José Siri Jose Alexander Siri (born July 22, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays. He made his MLB debut i ...

from the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, the Astros acquired

Trey Mancini Joseph Anthony "Trey" Mancini III (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

from Baltimore and Jayden Murray from Tampa Bay, and the Orioles also acquired Chayce McDermott from the Astros. On November 15, 2022, the Orioles selected Johnson's contract and added him to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Johnson was optioned to the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...

to begin the 2023 season. He made rehab appearances for the rookie–level

Florida Complex League Orioles The Florida Complex League Orioles are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Before 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Orioles. The team plays its home g ...

, Single–A

Delmarva Shorebirds The Delmarva Shorebirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are members of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Their home games are played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shor ...

, High–A

Aberdeen IronBirds The Aberdeen IronBirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in the city of Aberdeen in Harford County, Maryland. They are the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and compete in the South Atlantic League. They were previously members of th ...

, and Double–A

Bowie Baysox The Chesapeake Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. From 1993 to 2024, th ...

as he continued his recovery from surgery. Johnson was again optioned to Triple–A Norfolk to begin the 2024 season. However, he instead began the campaign with Bowie, and compiled a 2.63 ERA as he was 0-6 with 35 walks and 61 strikeouts over 18 starts.

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 30, 2024, the Orioles traded Johnson and pitcher Moisés Chace to the

in exchange for reliever

Gregory Soto Gregory Soto (born February 11, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies. He made his MLB debut i ...

. He was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on September 8. In 2.1 innings in his first major league season he gave up 8 hits, 3 walks, and 9 earned runs."Seth Johnson,"
Baseball Reference. Johnson was optioned to the Triple-A

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used ...

to begin the 2025 season,and was recalled to Philadelphia on June 1.

References

External links

Campbell Camels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Seth 1998 births Living people Aberdeen IronBirds players Baseball players from Concord, North Carolina Bowie Baysox players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Campbell Fighting Camels baseball players Charleston RiverDogs players Delmarva Shorebirds players Florida Complex League Orioles players Gulf Coast Rays players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players 21st-century American sportsmen Louisburg Hurricanes baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Princeton Rays players Reading Fightin Phils players