Orioles 2022 #16 Prospect Seth Johnson - RHP

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

Johnson lost a year to TJS and will turn 26 years old this coming season.  He was drafted 40th overall (just ahead of Gunnar) in 2019 by a Tampa organization known for developing top pitching prospects. So long as he stays healthy I expect the Orioles to put him on a fast track to the big leagues. 

You can’t just say, he’s old so he can skip over several levels of pitching development.  You can speed things up but he still needs to prove he’s ready to move up at each level.  

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

You can’t just say, he’s old so he can skip over several levels of pitching development.  You can speed things up but he still needs to prove he’s ready to move up at each level.  

Why? 

[ShoelesJoe]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

You can’t just say, he’s old so he can skip over several levels of pitching development.  You can speed things up but he still needs to prove he’s ready to move up at each level.  

I'm not expecting Seth Johnson to skip anything. But there's a fundamental difference between the organizational development of a 21-22 year old pitching prospect and that of a 25-26 year old pitching prospect. Johnson is about as physically mature as he's going to get, and will spend this coming season pitching against batters who are about the same age as he his. The only thing holding him back this year should be his learning curve. Give him 30-40 innings at Bowie, and then a similar number in Norfolk. If he's getting knocked around at that point then he's probably got no future in Baltimore. But if he's holding his own at Norfolk in July then promote him and see what happens. 

[sportsfan8703]

Johnson and McDermott could both help us out this year as up/down RH arms. They’d essentially replace what Gillaspie and Khreibel gave us last year. Hopefully more. Their options are invaluable. 

[Tony-OH]

On 1/7/2024 at 1:43 AM, ShoelesJoe said:

I'm not expecting Seth Johnson to skip anything. But there's a fundamental difference between the organizational development of a 21-22 year old pitching prospect and that of a 25-26 year old pitching prospect. Johnson is about as physically mature as he's going to get, and will spend this coming season pitching against batters who are about the same age as he his. The only thing holding him back this year should be his learning curve. Give him 30-40 innings at Bowie, and then a similar number in Norfolk. If he's getting knocked around at that point then he's probably got no future in Baltimore. But if he's holding his own at Norfolk in July then promote him and see what happens. 

I think a lot of this depends on the role they eventually see him in performing at the major league level. If they want to develop him as a starter, than there are different set of criteria to getting promoted than a guy who's role will be in relief. Relief is always the quicker option and for an older prospect who is burning through options, this might be the last year for him to prove he can start.

I do think the Orioles will be fairly aggressive with him if he does well to start the year in AA (expected start). With more mature hitters in AAA who chase less, it's the level where pitchers need to really hone their command and repertoires so they may rather he get more innings there than AA. It really just depends on whether he's handling AA hitters.