After a tough couple of years, Orioles pitching prospect Seth Johnson is beginning to feel like himself again.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-hander was selected out of Campbell University with the 40th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. A little more than three years later, Johnson was traded to the Orioles, along with fellow right-hander Chayce McDermott, in a three-team trade that sent Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros. Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery two days after the deal was made.
But he entered the 2024 season fully healthy, and in his last four starts for Double-A Bowie, Johnson has allowed just two earned runs and five walks while striking out 19 batters in 17 innings.
“I’ve definitely gotten back to just being a little bit more simple in my game plan and not trying to do too much,” he said on Glenn Clark Radio May 30. “During rehab, you really want to develop things and work on things, and once you get into games, it’s more about execution and stuff. So, over the last three starts, I’ve been able to execute plans a little easier.”
This season for the Baysox, Johnson has posted a 3.03 ERA across 10 appearances — all starts — and 35.2 innings pitched. He has tallied 39 strikeouts and 19 walks. The Orioles are being cautious with Johnson, as the right-hander has pitched more than four innings just once.
Johnson is still making up for lost time, though. The elbow injury forced him to miss much of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, pitching in just 12 contests during those years. In his last full season in 2021, Johnson recorded a 2.88 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 23 appearances (16 starts) and 93.2 innings for the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs.
Rehab was a relatively smooth process for Johnson, who used the recovery period to rebuild his entire body and work on the pitches already in his repertoire.
“It wasn’t really adding anything, it was more like kind of refine everything and get all my pitches to be as consistent as they were before I got hurt,” he said. “That’s an ongoing process that’s probably going to go on until my career is over.”
While Johnson’s primary goal this season is to stay healthy and avoid the injured list, he is still balancing his commitment to recovery and desire to play in the major leagues. Johnson is one of nine minor league players to hold a spot on the Orioles’ 40-man roster and has a shot to make his major league debut this season or next.
“That’s something I kind of fell into earlier in the year. [I] was trying to rush the process,” Johnson said. “But, I mean, the staff here has done a great job of kind of keeping my perspective in check and reminding me that it has been a long time since I’ve pitched a full season, and it still is relatively early in the year.”
Regardless, the 25-year-old has waited years for an opportunity to play in the major leagues and is hoping it comes sooner rather than later.
“It would mean a ton to me, it would mean a ton to my family,” Johnson said. “… If that moment does come, it’s not really so much for me, but it’s for my family as a whole just because they’ve been with me every step of the way.”
For more from Johnson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Joe Noyes