A September Call Up for Phillies Pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez?

The Phillies signed Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez to a three-year, $12 million contract a year ago, and we may get our first look at Gonzalez next month.

As teams around Major League Baseball expand their rosters on Monday, so will the Phillies, which may include pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who has battled injuries since the offseason. Once healthy, Gonzalez found his rhythm as a reliever for Double A Reading in July, and has continued his strong pitching, posting a 1.93 ERA in 10 games for Triple A Leigh Valley after getting called up earlier this month. Though the Phillies organization hasn't been forthcoming about who they may call up, many front office members have hinted at how well Gonzalez has looked.

Joe Jordan, the Phillies director of player development told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com "I saw him [Monday night] at Lehigh Valley, and he was a major-league pitcher. He had a good fastball, drove the ball down in the zone, followed the glove. It’s the best I’ve seen him throw. It was very exciting. And it was against a very good hitting Triple-A (Syracuse) club. For two innings he overmatched them, right through the good part of the lineup. Not only did he overpower them with his stuff, but he was making pitches. His progress has been very good.”

The Cuban defector turns 28 next month, and the Phillies are on the hook having signed Gonzalez to a big league contract. The club needs to see what Gonzalez can do in the bigs, after signing him with the aspiration that he would be a top of the rotation pitcher alongside Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. Whether the Phillies would keep Gonzalez in a relief role, or revert him back to starter remains to be seen. Regardless, the September roster expansion could give us a look at some of the Phillies next in line to take on bigger roles, and hopefully that list will include Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez.