Former Phillies OF prospect resurrects career as reliever

Four months before the Philadelphia Phillies won their second World Series championship in franchise history — defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games — the team selected outfield prospect Anthony Gose in the second round of the amateur draft.

In the summer of 2010, the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt for Gose, who appeared in 372 games as a position player from 2012-16 with the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.

Now, five seasons later, Gose is making a major-league comeback — but rather as a flame-throwing, left-handed reliever who is reaching near-100 miles per hour on the radar gun.

The unique career journey for former Phillies prospect Anthony Gose.

Gose played in two-plus minor-league seasons in the Phillies organization, including 103 games in 2010 with the Clearwater Threshers, slashing .263/.325/.385 with 17 doubles, 11 triples, four home runs, 21 RBI, 36 stolen bases, 32 walks, and 103 strikeouts across 461 plate appearances.

The California native was putting up impressive numbers early on in his professional career. The Phillies used that to their advantage at the July 2010 trade deadline to add another solid arm to a rotation that featured eventual Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay. The Phillies traded Gose, along with J.A. Happ and Jonathan Villar, to the Houston Astros for the three-time All-Star and 143-game-winner in Oswalt.

The same day, the Astros dealt Gose to the Blue Jays. He went on to debut in 2012, slashing .223/.303/.319 in 56 games as a rookie. Over his next 146 games and two seasons with the Blue Jays, he likewise hit less than .240, but still produced extra-base hits seen early on in his Phillies minor-league stint.

Gose was then traded to the Tigers, with whom he played 170 games for across the 2015-16 seasons, again slashing a less-than-ideal .247/.315/.363. Since, Gose played in the minors for the Tigers (2017), Texas Rangers (2018), and Cleveland Indians (2019). In 2017 and 2019, he was solely used as a reliever. The Rangers attempted to get creative in 2018, using him as a two-way player.

Anthony Gose is making a strong case to be part of the Indians bullpen.

Now, Gose is in his second-year with the Indians as a non-roster pitching invitee at spring training and is making significant strides. So far, Gose has thrown four scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out five of his 14 batters faced. Opposing hitters have just a .143 batting average against Gose, who has also recorded two holds in relief.

It remains to be seen whether the former Phillies prospect, now 30, will make the Indians roster, but he is surely making a name for himself and is resurrecting his career.