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So much has gone wrong for the Philadelphia Phillies over the last two months that it's hard to forget they were on a record wins pace the last week of May. As the final week of August approaches, the Phillies still hold a six-game lead in the National League East but have lost their perch atop the NL. Not only are they putting themselves in an unexpected fight for the division but also for a top seed and first-round bye in the playoffs.
The struggles mainly lie within the offense and the bullpen. Philadelphia's daunting lineup has been hot and cold for the better part of 10 weeks, while the bullpen's ERA has skyrocketed. The Phils' rotation has held its own but can’t be expected to carry the team into and through October at this rate.
The 26 men currently on Philadelphia's roster have to find a way to right the ship. Up above, the Phillies front office is deciding which moves it can make in the next six weeks to ensure the team is in the best position to win a championship.
With the trade deadline come and gone, the Phils need to look internally to plug any holes (barring a surprise waiver pickup). It wasn’t long ago they had one of the worst farm systems in baseball. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and his staff have done a terrific job building Philadelphia's prospect pool since he took over in December 2020.
The Phillies don’t need a miracle to get back on track, nor do they need to rush one of their top prospects up to make an immediate impact in 2024. They have allowed themselves to pick and choose wisely the two extra players they'll call up in September. Here's where they might look.
Trade deadline acquisition makes Phillies debut
The Phillies were busy leading up to the MLB trade deadline this year, most notably acquiring outfielder Austin Hays and closer Carlos Estevez. A move that flew under the radar was Philadelphia's trade with the Baltimore Orioles which sent reliever Gregory Soto to Baltimore in exchange for a pair of prospects.
One of those players is right-hander Seth Johnson. The 25-year-old hasn’t had the smoothest professional career since being drafted 40th overall in 2019. A torn UCL and subsequent Tommy John surgery limited him to 12 combined starts in 2022 and 2023. He's pitched exceptionally well this year in 21 starts and is 16 innings shy of matching his career-high for a season.
Johnson slots in as the Phillies' 15h-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline thanks to a 2.55 ERA this season. He's not pitching deep into outings – only three of his 21 starts lasted longer than four innings and none were longer than five – but Johnson's numbers since July put him in a position to earn a surprise call-up in September.
In that span, Johnson has a 2.12 ERA, tossing at least four innings in six of his seven starts. He surrendered more than four hits in only one of those and allowed more than one run in two. Opponents hit .203 off him in July and are hitting .191 in August. Perhaps most importantly, Johnson's walk rate is down significantly after he issued 16 free passes in 16 1/3 innings in June. He's walked six total batters since.
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Johnson earned his first promotion to Triple-A last week, then proceeded to toss five scoreless innings on Friday, scattering one hit and three walks while striking out four. That comes after he fanned six and allowed three hits in four scoreless innings on Aug. 10.
The Phillies probably want to see Seth Johnson duplicate that a couple more times before bringing him to the majors. However, they might be pressed to make a move if Taijuan Walker and the bullpen continue to falter into September.
Undrafted infielder earns a big-league shot
While undrafted free agent success stories often happen in the NFL and NBA, they are quite rare in baseball. Until 2020 the MLB Draft consisted of 40 rounds, making it difficult for an undrafted player to crack a minor league roster, let alone make it to the big leagues.
The Phillies have a very intriguing player currently raking in Double-A who happens to be undrafted. Infielder Otto Kemp is trying to make his mark within the organization and his performance this season has certainly caught the front office's attention.
Kemp started the year in Low-A and quickly earned a promotion to High-A. After collecting a .973 OPS in 41 games, the Phillies sent him to Double-A where he continues to hit. Kemp has a .278/.380/.513 slash line with 10 doubles, 10 home runs, 32 RBIs, and 32 runs in 51 games with the Reading Fightin Phils.
Remarkably, Kemp has not gone consecutive games without reaching base safely the entire season. He currently has a 19-game on-base streak and is hitting .327 in 15 games in August. He's a talented and selective base runner as well, notching 40 steals on 54 attempts in his 223 career games in the minors.
Kemp worked his way onto Philadelphia's top 30 prospect list in MLB Pipleline's latest update, ranking 28th. His breakout season would become even more of a dream if he got a call to the bigs for one of MLB's best teams. The Phillies might opt to keep Cal Stevenson up once Austin Hays returns from the injured list, but if they want to get the most out of their entire 28-man roster next month, they should consider bringing up Otto Kemp.
