BRADENTON, Fla. – Phil Gosselin was told a few days ago that he would not make the Phillies' opening day roster.
But that doesn't mean he can't keep making an impression on club officials before he heads to Triple A.
Gosselin has remained in big-league camp. He was the Phillies' starting third baseman in Saturday's game against the Pirates. The Phillies lost, 5-3, but Gosselin impressed with a pair of hits and several excellent plays in the field.
One of his hits was an opposite-field homer to right on a full-count against Pittsburgh right-hander Jordan Lyles. Gosselin is not known for his power – he has just seven homers in 532 at-bats with five big-league clubs – but this ball jumped out of the park.
Gosselin is hitting .410 (16 for 39) on the spring with five doubles, a triple and two home runs. The 30-year-old utility man, a West Chester native who grew up rooting for the Phillies (see story), has caught manager Gabe Kapler's eye in camp.
"I talked to Josh Bonifay (the team's director of player development) today about some of our priorities at Triple A," Kapler said after the game. "When we got to Gosselin, there was some real excitement there.
"It (his spring performance) looks like something different than he's produced in his career. You don't see guys like that often hit the ball that he hit to right-center today. It's a little unusual. This is a big ballpark and the ball doesn't always go that well. Real power, some decent bat-to-ball skills, really heady defender, a guy that everybody likes. Those are the guys that if you reach down in the middle of the summer, you're like, 'I'm really glad that this guy is in our organization,' because you trust him. You trust him to come up and perform."
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It takes a lot more than 25 guys to get through a big-league season. Gosselin has put himself in position to help the Phillies at some point in 2019.
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