The Phillies made the first wave of call-ups to add to their September roster on Sunday. The moves included pitchers Cole Irvin and Nick Vincent, infielder Phil Gosselin and catcher Deivy Grullon. The Phillies will need to make three corresponding moves since Vincent, Gosselin and Grullon aren’t on the 40-man roster.
Grullon is the biggest name of the bunch and is the team’s top catching prospect, at least at the upper levels of the minors. Grullon hit 21-77-.283/.354/.496 in 108 games with the IronPigs, including hitting two home runs in Saturday’s game in Pawtucket. Defensively, Grullon posted a .972 fielding percentage behind the plate and threw out just 17-percent of would-be basestealers on the season with Lehigh Valley. He also played seven games at first base, making three starts there, but committed three errors and had a fielding percentage of just .875 as a first baseman. It was the first time in his professional career that he had played at first base.
Gosselin was up earlier in the season with the Phillies and played in 32 games with six RBI and a .245/.260/.306 line in the majors. Over parts of seven seasons, he is a .262 hitter in the majors with Atlanta, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Texas, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. With Lehigh Valley, Gosselin put up impressive numbers with eight home runs and 47 RBI and a line of .314/.405/.497 in 78 games. He played all four infield positions with the majority – 58 games – coming at second base.
Irvin has been back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley making the trip down and back four times this season. With Lehigh Valley, Irvin was used as a starter, but the Phillies used him just three times to start and five times as a reliever, with him posting a combined 7.98 ERA between the two roles. He made his MLB debut May 12th in Kansas City when he started and went seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and one walk. He recorded five strikeouts in his debut and has 24 in 29 1/3 major league innings. With the IronPigs, Irvin was 6-1 with a 3.94 ERA.
Vincent was signed as a free agent and assigned to Lehigh Valley on August 10th after he was released by the San Francisco Giants. This season, Vincent pitched in 18 games with the Giants and posted an 0-2 mark with a 5.58 ERA. The 33-year old right-hander has pitched in the majors in eight straight seasons and is 20-19 with a career 3.38 ERA in 368 relief appearances and two starts. He has notched four career saves and has 362 strikeouts in 263 2/3 innings of work.
It’s likely that other players will be recalled once the IronPigs season ends on Monday. Lehigh Valley did not qualify for the International League playoffs.