The Philadelphia Phillies are in the midst of a four-game losing streak after losing 4-3 to the New York Mets in extra innings on Wednesday. It's been a rough stretch for the Phillies, and the team's bullpen is now under increased scrutiny, with high-leverage arms like Orion Kerkering and Jordan Romano currently struggling to get big outs when recently called upon. After recording an MLB-worst seven blown saves in the first 25 games of the season, the bullpen could soon be facing a much-needed overhaul.
While it might be too early to seek help via trade, the Phillies have to do something with Romano (13.50 ERA) and Kerkering (6.48 ERA) not getting it done in close games. With fellow right-hander Joe Ross a possibility to make a spot start in place of Cristopher Sánchez next week, the team desperately needs a right-handed bullpen arm to slide in and get outs to hand the ball to José Alvarado in the ninth. With everything currently trending poorly on the mound, could the answers to the Phillies' bullpen problems be a phone call away at Triple-A Lehigh Valley?
Is prospect Seth Johnson the answer to Phillies' current bullpen woes?
There were plenty of eyes trained on Ranger Suárez's rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday evening. Suárez was certainly impressive during his five innings of scoreless work, but an interesting subplot emerged later in the game when right-handed pitching prospect Seth Johnson (the team's No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline) was summoned to pitch two innings of relief.
It was later reported by Matt Gelb of The Athletic that Johnson will make the switch from starting games to being a part of the IronPigs bullpen.
That's notable because when Johnson was acquired by the Phillies in a deal with the Baltimore Orioles last summer, he was viewed as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter and made his MLB debut with the Phillies with one forgettable start last September. And after making four starts with Lehigh Valley this season, the Phillies believe that his upper 90s fastball could lead to success coming out of the bullpen.
Johnson struck out two and walked a pair in his two scoreless innings of relief on Tuesday, lowering his season ERA to 3.98. He now has 24 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. That comes with 13 walks, however, so he'll have to wrestle his command under control for the move to the bullpen to be viable.
While it remains to be seen how long Romano and Kerkering's struggles will continue, it's not surprising at all that the team wants to see what they have in the minor league system before jumping into the trade market and having to deal away another package of prospects to acquire external help. Johnson's transition to Lehigh Valley's bullpen is worth paying attention to in the short term. But after setting the bar low throughout the first 25 games of the season, it will probably take more than Seth Johnson to help change the Phillies' fortunes right now.