Phillies roster continues to expand, but how much will it help?

The Phillies can now stretch their roster all the way out to 40 players, but will it really make much of an impact for the last month of the season?

The Phillies added to their roster further Thursday morning, calling up Maikel Franco from Triple-A before their series finale with the Reds. They now have 34 players on the roster, calling up nine since the rosters expanded Sept. 1.

On Sept. 1, they brought up pitchers Nick Vincent and Cole Irvin, catcher Deivi Grullon, and infielder Phil Gosselin. The call-ups continued over the next few days, adding outfielders Nick Williams and Jose Pirela, pitcher Nick Pivetta, and now Franco. Jay Bruce was activated from the injured list as well, which rounds out the total to 34.

The team certainly has plenty of players now. They now have nine position players to come off the bench and 11 relievers to work with. Now they should not have to deal with the shortage of players that led to Vince Velasquez pinch-running and playing left field at the beginning of August.

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However, while the team now has plenty of players on the roster, how many of them can really be trusted to come off the bench or out of the bullpen? Logan Morrison, Brad Miller, and Jay Bruce are the team’s best options, but anyone called up in the last few days should not be called upon with the game on the line.

Turning to the bullpen, there are a select few relievers who can be trusted late in games, and even that’s a stretch. As injuries pile up, it has become a game of bullpen roulette once Gabe Kapler takes the ball out of the starting pitcher’s hands.

On Wednesday night, it was Jose Alvarez and Blake Parker who allowed the most damage in relief. Mike Morin and Edgar Garcia let a 1-1 game become an 11-5 drubbing last Friday night. Given the inconsistency of everyone in the bullpen, no lead is safe, and the call-ups certainly won’t help that.

For better or worse, it will be the players who have been here before the September call-ups who will make the difference in the final month of the season. Everyone else is here in case things completely hit the fan.