For Gosselin, a ‘crazy’ callup to Phillies
PHILADELPHIA >> It was a long time coming for Phil Gosselin, who spent some time after his first game as a Phillie Wednesday talking about the last time he’d made a life’s memory at Citizens Bank Park.
“I was up in the nosebleeds like 10 years ago, watching them play in the World Series here,” Gosselin said, “and now I’m on the team. Pretty crazy.”
It’s not so nuts that when Phillies general manager Matt Klentak needed to fill a roster spot, he selected Gosselin off the Lehigh Valley IronPigs roster. That’s because through 10 IronPigs games, Gosselin, 30, was hitting .419 with a 1.055 OPS.
Gosselin, who grew up in the West Chester area and is a Malvern Prep grad, is the club’s designated utility infielder until further notice. That would have much to do with shortstop Jean Segura, who is out with a hamstring strain.
So Gosselin made the trip with the club to Colorado, saying it will be “fun, just like today was.”
It’s not altogether new to him, of course. The University of Virginia product was first called up to the big leagues in 2013 with Atlanta, and in 2016 had 240 plate appearances with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But coming to Clearwater as a non-roster invitee then signing a minor league deal with the Phillies, well, that’s a different ballgame.
“You hope it’s going to happen, you never know,” Gosselin said of joining the team he grew up watching. “I just tried to go to Triple-A and keep it rolling. I did a good job of that and tried to play as good as I can there and make the decision hard on them.”
He’s already made it tough on the club’s overseers, since Gosselin had hit .405 with a 1.159 OPS in 45 Grapefruit League plate appearances. It was actually pretty crazy that he was one of the last cuts coming out of camp, not making the club only because established major league stars were already in place.
“If they need somebody,” Gosselin said, “I want to be in the mix.”
He’s certainly there now, though for an undetermined period of time. The infield roster is as crowded on this club as it is for every other facet of the team. And yet ... you won’t find Phil Gosselin complaining about that.
“This probably exceeded that first call-up I got, just because of all the emotions, and growing up coming to games here,” Gosselin said. “I was here in the nosebleeds in ‘09 for that World Series, so yeah, I probably got a little emotional for this. I’m not a very emotional guy but for this one, it’s moreso than that first one for Atlanta.”
Gosselin donned No. 9, that of his favorite player growing up, Scott Rolen. He pointed out he felt the same when Chase Utley took the number, “and I got to play against him,” Gosselin said, “which is pretty crazy, too.”