Minor league managers always stress that their job is less about winning and more about developing players.

Sure, they — and their players — want to win games, but the minors are a proving ground for players looking to reach the majors, and they must be ready to go when they get the call.

Fans sometimes go crazy wanting a team to bring a certain prospect to the majors, but there is a lot that goes into the decision.

Fans in Philadelphia are clamoring for Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter to join the Phillies, but both are parked conveniently at Lehigh Valley waiting for the call.

For high-value prospects like Crawford and Painter, the situation is much different than for other players whose ceiling is not as high as the top prospects.

With top prospects, a team doesn’t want them to become a yo-yo player — a guy who goes up to the majors and back down to the minors repeatedly — where with other players, that’s not as much of a concern.

For players like Seth Johnson, their lot in life is just fitting in wherever the organization wants them to fit in.

Johnson has been a starting pitcher his entire career, but not long into this season, the Phillies decided that they had enough starting pitchers and could afford to move Johnson into a relief role and felt he was more suited for that job.

So, he became a reliever and before long, he got the call to join the Phillies beleaguered bullpen.

In 20 relief appearances with Lehigh Valley, Johnson posted a 4.44 ERA, but as teams usually do, the Phillies looked beyond the ERA and at how he handled himself on the mound and envisioned how he might perform in the majors. When they found an opening, Johnson got the call, and he’s pitched well in a Phillies uniform, with a 2.57 ERA and a 1-0 record. Thanks to his background as a starter, Johnson also brings the ability to go more than one inning, and in five appearances has given the Phillies seven innings of work.

Meanwhile, Michael Mercado has not had an easy time morphing from a starter to a reliever, at least at the major league level.

Throughout his minor league career, the 26-year-old has bounced between the rotation and bullpen and seemed to handle it well. This season, the Phillies wanted him to focus more on relieving than starting, and it hasn’t gone well.

With Lehigh Valley, Mercado made 23 relief appearances and has an ERA of 6.08. Even with those sluggish numbers, the Phillies brought him to Philly and after a scoreless inning against the Cubs, things blew up in his next two outings when he allowed five earned runs in just two innings of work against the Marlins and Mets. The result was a 15.00 ERA, and a car ride back to Lehigh Valley.

Overall, the player development department has done a good job of getting players ready to progress from the minors to the majors.

Pitchers like Johnson, Max Lazar and Daniel Robert have pitched well for the Phillies, while third baseman/outfielder Otto Kemp has also done well in Philadelphia.

BROTHERS IN ARMS ... When Rochester came to town to open the post all-star portion of the schedule, it was a family reunion. IronPigs catcher Garrett Stubbs got to hang out with younger brother C.J. Stubbs, who was promoted from Double-A Harrisburg to Triple-A Rochester in late June. C.J., 28, came up through the Astros organization before signing with the Nationals over the winter and setting up the reunion. The younger Stubbs is still hoping to make his MLB debut, while Garrett is looking to get back to the majors.

PACKING ‘EM IN ... Lehigh Valley leads the International League in per game average attendance with 8,173 per game through Sunday. In second is Indianapolis with an average attendance of 7,315. At the bottom of the rankings are the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, who draw only 3,001 fans per game.