Phillies 40-man roster crunch will limit September call-ups
The Phillies would certainly love to have all of their top prospects in the majors at the end of the season, but the 40-man roster rules will limit them.
One of the few bright spots during a season for a losing team like the Phillies is when September rolls around and the major-league rosters expand. Teams can call up any player on their 40-man roster and usually do so to fill out some holes in the bullpen or on the bench. It is also an opportunity to give prospects their first crack at the major-leagues without cutting into their service time or rookie eligibility.
Most of Philadelphia’s top prospects that are on the 40-man roster are already in the major-leagues. Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams, and Jorge Alfaro are all playing major-league roles right now and could be back in September.
Several pitchers currently in the minors could make their way up to the majors in September. Ricardo Pinto and Alberto Tirado could put a few innings under their belt to help take the load off the current major-league bullpen. Elniery Garcia and Drew Anderson could help out the bullpen as well or perhaps make a start or two to help conserve other starters.
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Other players who aren’t on the 40-man roster have still earned a September call-up. J.P. Crawford, Scott Kingery, and Thomas Eshelman have all had strong seasons at Triple-A and have shown enough at that level to warrant a test at the majors. However, they may be limited by Rule 5 eligibility.
Crawford is among several prospects who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter.
Other notable prospects eligible include Seranthony Dominguez, Ranger Suarez, Franklyn Kilome, Carlos Tocci, Andrew Pullin, and Brandon Leibrandt. Most, if not all, of those players have made enough of a case to be protected on the 40-man roster.
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However, to protect these players, the Phillies need to conserve as much space on their roster as possible. Kingery and Eshelman do not need to be protected as college players drafted in 2015. This means adding them to the 40-man for a September call-up only hurts the team’s goals of protecting as many prospects as possible. It may anger some fans to want to see prospects in the majors as soon as possible, but it helps the team in the long run keep as much talent in the system as possible.
Meanwhile, Crawford, Tocci, Pullin, and Leibrandt could make their major-league debuts as September call-ups because they are Rule 5 eligible.
If they have to be added to the 40-man roster anyway, why not do it now for them? Crawford is almost a guarantee to see in the majors this year while the others are a bit more of a stretch.
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Regardless, Philadelphia’s seemingly endless 40-man roster crunch will once again hurt the team’s ability to see as many prospects in the majors as possible, while it also adds more reason to call up those prospects that are eligible.