Meet the pitching prospects the Phillies got in the Gregory Soto trade: Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A lot has been made of the Phillies’ starting pitching depth, or lack thereof. It makes sense. Taijuan Walker hasn’t been pitching like a No. 5 starter, and there aren’t many options behind him.

But the Phillies did add some pieces at the deadline, who could help at some point soon. In exchange for relief pitcher Gregory Soto, who they sent to the Orioles on July 30, they acquired two right-handed starters: Moisés Chace and Seth Johnson.

Johnson, 25, was added to the 40-man roster, and is currently pitching at triple-A Lehigh Valley. Chace, 21, is pitching at double-A Reading. Minor league pitching coordinator Travis Hergert says they have similar profiles. Both sit in the 94-96 mph range, and there is some overlap in their arsenals. But there are also a few key differences between them.

Here’s an overview of both prospects …

As of now, Johnson is the closest of the two to the big leagues. But that being said, the Phillies might want to manage his workload. He is a few years removed from Tommy John surgery and has already thrown more innings this season (82⅔) than he has since 2021.

He has a 2.77 ERA across parts of five minor-league seasons. He pitched out of the bullpen a few times in 2021 but has otherwise pitched out of the rotation. When the Phillies acquired Johnson, he was sent to double A but was quickly promoted to triple-A Lehigh Valley on Aug. 15.

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Since then, he’s posted a 0.90 ERA across two starts (10 innings) with five walks. In his last start, on Aug. 23 against Rochester, he sat 94-96 mph and touched 97 mph.

“Similar to Chace, it’s a very unique fastball, with a little bit of a higher slot,” Hergert said. “He has that riding action, and there’s some deception for him too, from that higher slot. He also has a cutter that’s in the slider bucket, but he throws it on average 86 to 88 mph and gets a lot of swing and miss on that, as well. And then he’s got a curveball that is like a true curveball. It’s more of an early-count pitch to lefties.”

Johnson added a splitter when he was in big-league camp with the Orioles last spring, and has been using it more in games. The Phillies weren’t sure how it would play at triple A, with a baseball that is more comparable to the ball used in the big leagues, but so far, he has made progress with it.

“He knocked down the average velocity 2 mph and killed a little more spin,” Hergert said. “Our triple-A pitching coach, Ryan Buchter, has made a few small tweaks with the grip and we’ve seen improvements.”

The biggest focus for Johnson right now is putting guys away in two-strike counts. The thinking is that if he can put hitters away faster, he’ll be able to pitch deeper into games. Johnson leans on the slider and his four-seam fastball as his put-away pitches, but is still learning how to create strikes and chase with those offerings.

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The splitter can be used as a put-away pitch against lefties — which he saw some success with in his outing on Friday.

“His situation is a little different, because he gets to two strikes quickly,” Hergert said. “Something we talked about a couple weeks ago with him is just being able to put guys away early with two strikes and sort of limit the pitch counts. His pitch counts get elevated a little bit, some longer at-bats, and maybe he’s not able to go as deep into games.

“That’s probably our biggest focus: being able to trim away some of the workload, and shortening some of the at-bats. Maybe it’s more early-count strikes. Maybe it’s a little early-count weak contact. We can end some of those at-bats sooner. And then we’re talking about possibly going into the sixth and maybe the seventh at some point.”

Chace, 21, has a 4.41 ERA across parts of four minor league seasons. He began his Phillies tenure in high-A Jersey Shore but has since been promoted to double-A Reading. He has a 2.79 ERA across 9⅔ innings in double A so far, with 16 strikeouts to five walks.

In Chace’s most recent outing, on Saturday, he had 10 strikeouts.

“The fastball is really impressive,” Hergert said of Chace. “I know he’s had the sweeper/slider for some time, but just picked up the hard cutter/slider recently, and that has showed really well. I’ve been really impressed with his poise. Being at this level, he hasn’t been really overwhelmed.”

Chace was used both in relief and out of the rotation in the Orioles system, but the Phillies currently see him as a starter.

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“When we first got him, [farm director] Preston [Mattingly] and I talked about like, ‘Let this guy go pitch,’” Hergert said. “Sort of take the reins off a little bit. Let him go be a starting pitcher.

“The fastball profile, with the riding action, and the unique arm slot where he releases it, is something that makes it a really, really quality pitch. And then I think the implementation of the cutter/slider just complements and it bridges the fastball to the sweeper.

“He has a pretty solid changeup that he hasn’t used a ton, that will get there eventually. And I think that’s going to be key for him, especially here in the Eastern League — you’re going to see a lot more left-handed dominant lineups. That’ll be a good challenge for him to be able to utilize that cutter to open up the heater, and maybe back door the sweeper, and have him lean in on the changeup a little bit, too.”

Chace pitched five innings on Aug. 10 and 17, and 4⅓ on Saturday. The other thing the Phillies would like him to focus on is quality of strikes.

“We want to get the early-count strikes, get into those two-strike count opportunities where he can utilize his weapons,” Hergert said. “I think that’s like the next big focus for us.”