Two weeks until the day that those on the 40 man roster (and a few others) have been waiting for, as the Phillies will be adding players to their roster come September 1. With the Phils out of contention, the goal of the call ups is different this year. Unlike most years where the September call ups add a few bats to the bench that will be used late in games or pitchers who will be called upon to eat up innings in blowouts, this September has the potential to be a try out camp of sorts for several. Taking a look by positional area:
Catcher: Cameron Rupp is likely to be added as a third catcher come September. He is already on the 40 and every team calls up a third catcher. He has been awful offensively this year and taken a major step backwards on the prospect chart, but being surrounded by Chooch, et al, can only help him.
Corner Infield: I would be surprised if Maikel Franco were not called up and seeing considerable playing time in September. Simply no reason not to.
Middle Infield: Expect to see both Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis back in Philly in what will be a very crowded middle infield in September. Both Galvis and Hernandez are out op options after this year and the Phils will have to keep them on the roster all year next year or risk losing them in waivers, a likely scenario if they try to sneak them through.
Outfield: I see a slight chance of either Tony Gwynn Jr or Leandro Castro getting a call up, but both would need to be added to the 40 man roster.
Starting Pitchers: None
Relievers: This could really be a cast of characters getting added in the mix. Assuming Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez’s arm hasnt fallen off by September 1st, I would like to see him go up. For $4M a year, I hate to see him spending too much more time anchoring the Lehigh Valley bullpen next year. Luis Garcia certainly deserves to go up based on his lights out performance for Lehigh Valley this year , and should be given perhaps a last shot to see if it translates to the bigs. Phillippe Aumont, Hector Neris, Ethan Martin and BJ Rosenberg are all only the 40 man roster as well and potentially could be called up. I am perfectly satisfied that I have seen more than enough of Aumont in a Phillies uniform for one lifetime. Martin continues to have the most upside and has pitched well as of late, so if I were to choose one of the three it would be Ethan Martin with Neris, and Rosenberg in back of him. It is noteworthy that if my records are correct, both Aumont and Rosenberg will be out of options coming into 2015.
Discuss.