Which players do you think will get the call this September? List your choices and give your reasoning. I’m planning a Q/A with Bryan Smith, a writer from Baseball Prospectus, and should have that in a few days, so check back for that.
23 thoughts on “Possible September call ups?”
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Phuture Phillies 
Yay!
– Jason Jamarillo – I’ll drive Barajas to the airport when the Phillies dump him. He’s hitting .270 or so. I’m guessing it’s a pretty safe bet that we’ll see a Ruiz/Jammer tandem next year. I’m okay with that
– Chris Roberson – He’ll be sent down in a week or so, but will make a nice pinch runner option during the stretch run.
– Brian Sanches – Just because the Phils seem to like treating him and Condrey like they are on yo-yos.
– Carlos Carrasco – I’d be hesitant to bring him up, unless he does pretty well in his next few starts, but he is the stud prospect of the organization.
– Greg Jacobs – The poor man’s Chris Coste. He is having a heckuva season, and it might be nice for the Phils to reward him and bring him up and let him get a few pinch hit ABs
– Tyler Mach – I wanted to say it before Art does! Maybe next year for him, if he keeps pounding the ball.
– There will probably be another reliever or two – maybe Mateo (from a PR standpoint, I hope not), Hernandez, Zagurski and Castro. My guess is that we will probably see the latter two. Can’t have enough lefties. Although does anyone know if the Phils think that Fabio Castro will be a starter or a reliever?
– Jeff
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maybe Mateo (from a PR standpoint, I hope not)
what would be worse from your perspective: the phillies adding mateo to their active roster and saying screw the PR, we want to win, or the phillies allowing their conscience to take hold, and saying winning is not the most important thing?
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Well, the dude did (allegedly) bite his wife in the face. Granted, there is a bit of a double standard that we are rooting for Brett Myers, but we’re not too happy about Mateo. One thing in Mateo’s favor – the Phillies got Dickie Noles, and he does a terrific job working with troubled players. Is it just an isolated incident (which we hope is the case with Myers)? Who knows?
I guess the question with Mateo is: Does the possible PR hit outweigh what he can bring to the table? I say no – he seems to be a fair to middlin’ reliever who may only marginally help out the Phillies in the bullpen.
– Jeff
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“Well, the dude did (allegedly) bite his wife in the face. Granted, there is a BIT of a double standard ”
Bite/Bit
I do not want to see Sanches called up. He’s terrible.
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Of course, it depends on what the roster looks like on the 31st. I’d say these have a good shot.
Jamarillo
Castro
Roberson
Happ
Condrey
I really don’t expect Carrasco or Outman to get the call.
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First, who the hell is Jason Jamarillo? Second, here’s my list:
Jaramillo
Castro
Condrey
Roberson
Zagurski
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I think JAramillo (C, Ottawa)(like everyone else on this list),
Zagurski and Castro (P, Ottawa)(like someone else said, you can never have enough lefties),
Joey Thurston (IF, Free Agent/Ottawa)(If he comes back, which is doubtful),
Julio Mateo (P, Reading)(Never enough relievers. I’m a big baseball guy, and I didn’t know much about his “incident”. I’m guessing not too many other people do.),
Carlos Carrasco (P, Reading)(Top prospect, possible full-time debut late ’08, why not get a preview?),
and Brian Sanches (P, Ottawa), just because the Phillies bring him up every two weeks.
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Also, I forgot Chris Roberson. He’s up here now, he’ll be back.
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Wow. I’ve been butchering JARamillo’s name name for a year and a half. I suck.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned bringing up Mike Castanza ;^)
– Jeff
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They’re not going to bring up guys who aren’t on the 40-man roster. So, no Jaramillo, Thurston. In fact, there are no uninjured players on the 40-man roster who are not currently on the 25-man roster. So the September callups will be pitchers and position players returning from DL. Victorino, Bourn, Utley, Barajas. Castro, Zagurski, Mateo, Happ, Madson, and Garcia coming off DL. Evem bringing those 6 back from DL is going to cause 40-man roster problems. Who will be cut?
I’m guessing Hernandez.
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“Bronco” Zagurski – desperately needed lefty in the pen
Fabio Castro – another lefty. Might start over Eaton
Chris Roberson – Awesome defense and speed, but skittish
Yoel Hernandez – could become a decent ML reliever
Anderson Garcia – Maybe this time he’ll even pitch
Brian Sanches – experienced bullpen help
Joe Bisenius – more bullpen help
J.A. Happ – still a top lefty prospect despite his poor debut
Kane Davis – might even make a case for himself, though he’s not on the 40-man roster.
Jason Jaramillo is a possibility, but only if Barajas somehow lingers on the DL. Next season, Jaramillo should make the team out of Spring Training as a backup to Ruiz. Then again, Ruiz/Coste might be better to open 2008, at least until Jaramillo forces the Phillies hand. Ruiz is better than people think.
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First time post here, great website man.
1)-Mike Zagurski
He’s doing well for Ottawa right now and at first, he looked good early on for Philadelphia and I have to imagine they bring him up.
2)-Jason Jaramillo
Get his feet wet in the Majors is needed.
3)-Fabio Castro
They are making him into a starter in Ottawa and is doing great in the Minors. Electric stuff, deserves to be up.
4)-Brennan King
I am taking a guess here on this one. He could probably be a bat off the bench for the team down the long run.
5)-Roberson
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Castro should have been a starter all year. Remember how well he did during the winter as a starter. It’s always easier to go from starter to reliever than reliever to starter.
The only thing I can think is that after his winter, they wanted to limit his innings?
They are paying barajas so he’ll be the third catcher so I don’t think they bring Jarimillo up.
I agree with most of the posts above. What will be interesting is if Bourne doesn’t come back. Does Roberson play Bourne’s old role as Burrells late inning defensive replacement. Maybe they should call up a pinch runner type. Because if it is late in the game and Roberson is already in for Burrell and they need someone to pinch run for a catcher or Helms, Moran can be that guy.
Bisinius should not be called up. He has stunk and doesn’t deserve the reward of a september call up. If he would ave met expectations, he would have been better than Condrey, Sanches, Hernendez, etc…
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Zagurski
Jaramillo
Castro
Roberson
Happ
I see no point in bringing up Carraso up at this point. Hes not exactly tearing it up at Reading. I guess if it was just to “wet” his feet it could be alright.
I think if Bourne can’t return then we would keep Roberson up and call up Moran in Sept. like Nick suggested.
Bisenius shouldn’t be called up hes had some elbow problems that hindered his progression this year.
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These lists are depressing. Who cares. No one on these lists are impact players. Carrasco is not ready to contribute this year. Outman isn’t close to ready. Happ is a poor mans Kendrick, which isn’t saying much. JJ is nice, but no power and not an improvement over Ruiz & Coste. Castro is too wild. No way he is any help. Zagurski might give a few innings from the pen. He is our only significant addition. The others should just enjoy the coffee, because they won’t get a second cup.
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“These lists are depressing. Who cares. No one on these lists are impact players.”
If they were impact players wouldn’t they be called up before September. September call ups are usually just to let some promising minor league players get a taste of the majors. I don’t know many teams who build their playoff push around Sept. call ups.
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Castro to Start. Eaton to ponder.
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Maybe Mathieson if he’s healthy? Read that he’s close to making a rehab start.
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My list and rationale for each who should and should not be called up (pretty close to EDGE 57’s list):
SHOULD BE CALLED UP:
1. Jaramillo – A. if he’s going to have a future with the big team, it would be nice to see now how well he will adjust and how his tools translate on the big league level. B. Having an extra catcher gives one a lot more flexibility in September with pinch hitters and the like – if Ruiz is catching, it’s easier putting Coste in to pinch hit knowing that Jaramillo is there in case of an emergency. C. Pretty soon it appears the Phils may have a catching surplus – it wouldn’t hurt to showcase him a little in case they want to trade him in the next year or two.
2. Castro – A. Like someone else said, you could use an extra lefty coming out of the pen. B. His major league experience to date has not be great, but I think he has a future, so closing out the season with some big league success could help him and make the transition back to the big team easier next spring.
3. Happ – A. I think this is the guy who is going to surprise us all very soon – he reminds me of Jerry Koosman. I expect that he will make the rotation sometime next year and could be a big help in September. In fact, I’d be tempted to call him up in August.
4. Roberson – A. He’s already been here a couple of times, so he should be able to handle it. B. Good pinch runner, pretty good (if inconsistent) fielder, BUT has absolutely no future as a quality major leaguer. A true fringe player.
5. Zagurski – A. Now starting to come into his own at AAA and dominate. B. He has a definite future as a late innings set-up man – if he adds a little velocity or acquires an “out pitch” may have a future as something more. C. Without the cap on, he looks like he is 15 years old, which is funny and entertaining by itself – sometimes I want to scream “go clean your room, Mike” at my TV set.
6. Costanzo – A. I know this is controversial, but I think you’d give him a lot of juice for next year’s season at AAA if you called him up to the majors – he’d be thrilled to be there and you really would not have to play him very much. B. He might actually be a good pinch hitting option late in games and could take the field in blow outs. C. He is coming on in AA and, if you look at his batting statistics, month by month over the last two years, you will see a player that is constantly improving. By the way, in saying all this, I fully expect next year will be like this year and last year for him – he may struggle the first few months, but I think he’ll adjust and improve throughout the year. When I look at this site, he’s really not high on people’s radar screens – in my view, he should be.
7. Brian Sanches and any of the other older AAA players that we think might be helpful. A. If you’ve got the space, why not, these are not guys you need to coddle or worry about and if they can be helpful, let them come up. Really, it’s a “who cares” type of proposition.
SHOULD NOT BE CALLED UP:
1. Carrasco – A. Has not adjusted to AA fully as yet – so why would he be ready for the majors? B. Has a history of regressing when promoted too soon – why risk it. C. He’s our top prospect and he’s young, I wouldn’t want him to throw too many innings at this stage of his career. I say, shut him down, maybe have pitch in the fall league and then have him start next year at either AA or AAA, depending on his performance in the spring.
2. Bisenuis – A. Quite frankly, he has sucked at AAA this year and, thus, is not ready to be in the major leagues. The sooner he can forget about this year and prepare for next year the better.
TEMPTED:
1. Donald – boy, is this guy becoming a player, or what? I am surprised that they have not moved him up to Reading, but, at this point, it probably make no sense. They may be poised to have him skip AA altogether and go right to AAA next year, just as Utley did. I don’t know about everyone else, but I am getting very excited about this player. Now we need to find him a position in the majors. I would expect to see him playing something other than SS in the fall league (perhaps third, perhaps the outfield).
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Oh yea, I forgot about Mathison. He could help…if healthy. I’ve always liked him as a late inning reliever. I beleive he only has two pitchers. Obviously, I don’t see him pitching late in games but it would be nice to see what he could do in the 6th or in blow outs. I am so tired of Geary, Condrey , etc… They post good numbers when the game is out of hand. I have been saying that about Geary for two years now. Time to give someone else a chance who has the upside to get it done in crunch time.
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Excellent analysis by H Man.
I go back and forth on Costanzo, but I don’t think he should be called up just yet. But then again, he could give them Phils a lefthanded power bat off the bench, and will his defense be that much worse than Dobbs/Helms? I guess I’d be a more excited about him if his error totals weren’t so high, but I think he is still learning the position. I’d be really surprised if he is not in Philly by midseason next year.
And I definitely agree on Bisenius. I had high expectations for him this year – I was even suggesting back in the spring that they have him close if Gordon went down.
– Jeff
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1. Mike Zagurski, decent lefty reliever
2. Fabio Castro, lefty starter, could help in pen
3. J.A. Happ, lefty starter, could help in pen
4.Chris Roberson, speed and D but he’s no Michael Bourn
5. Javon Moran, coming on strong in AAA
6. Pedro Swann, he’s 36, how many years can a guy wait?
7. Brian Mazone, buy him back from the Samsung Lions
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