The Colorado Rockies made their first September call ups today. Ryan McMahon, Carlos Estévez, Jeff Hoffman, Mike Tauchman, Tom Murphy, and Zac Rosscup were added to the Rockies’ active roster as the first wave of prospects to join the team thanks to September roster expansions. With minor league seasons still wrapping up, there is strong likelihood that more players—including Raimel Tapia, who has not been down for the required 10 days—will join the Rockies as their seasons conclude.
There were no surprises among this group of call-ups as all six of the players promoted have already spend time on the Rockies’ active roster this season.
Unlike previous seasons when September promotions have been auditions for prospects who may be able to help the team the following year, this year’s call ups will be expected to help bolster the Rockies’ playoff run in what will be a grueling stretch run to the playoffs. Until the Rockies either clinch a playoff spot or are eliminated, the club will probably only use these players in auxiliary roles.
While there was talk in the last CBA negotations to reduce the impact of September roster expansion, those ideas fell through so the Rockies could add up to 15 additional players to their active roster this month if they wanted to. The only restriction on the MLB roster for the rest of the month is now the 40-man roster.
Since the Rockies have used a four-man bench for most of the season and have even carried as few as three extra position players for stretches, adding the additional bats to the active roster will probably have a larger impact than the additional pitchers will to a bullpen that has carried a minimum of eight relievers for the entire season.