It’s Phil Gosselin’s World, We’re Just Living In It

By Greg Hall, Sports Talk Philly editor

The kid out of Malvern Prep High School has done it again.

When you're hot, you're hot.

Phil Gosselin has been in the big leagues for parts of eight seasons, only appearing in more than 46 games once. The Phillies signed Gosselin in December of 2018 to a minor-league contract and was retained on the same type of agreement one year later.

The signing has already paid big time dividends for the Phillies.

Gosselin, a former fifth-round pick by the Atlanta Braves, was asked to pinch hit for fellow righty Scott Kingery in the sixth inning of the Phillies 13-6 win over the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night and he delivered… twice.

First, he made it a one-run game with a double hitting for Kingery and, in the seventh, added an insurance run with a solo homer, his third of the year.

On the season, Gosselin is slashing .429/.500/.857 with three home runs, three doubles and eight RBI. All this in just 32 plate appearances, sixth fewest on the team.

For his Phillies career, spanning an even 100 plate appearances across 55 games, he has hit .312 with 15 RBI, well above his career .270 average.

Against right handed pitching, Goose (as the kids say…) is hitting a respectable .255 as a Phillie (3-for-9 in 2020), while crushing lefties at a clip of .370, although he has more at-bats against righties during his time in Philadelphia.

With all this mashing, why doesn't Gosselin see more playing time?

The answer is multifaceted, although it may need to be more black and white during a shortened season.

Gosselin is considered a second baseman, but can also play third base and left field (he's also logged 97 innings at shortstop).

Since top prospect Alec Bohm's call to the majors, he has been the Phillies regular third baseman, shifting Jean Segura to second. Not only is Bohm off to a hot start, but Segura makes big time money, almost $15 million per season, so barring injury (he is currently battling a hamstring ailment), he will play second.

Andrew McCutchen and Jay Bruce share duties in left field and Bruce has also been the primary DH against right-handers.

The numbers game limits the amount of time Gosselin will get to play, but in such a short season, manager Joe Girardi needs to find at-bats for the Goose. Let him loose!

While Segura nurses back to health and Kingery, who the Phillies also made a sizable six year, $24 million investment to, continues to struggle, Gosselin should find every day work. Even when Segura is back in the lineup, there are enough moving pieces in the lineup to find regular playing time for the lifelong Phillies fan turned offensive spark plug, and not just against lefties.

As the final player added to the 30-man roster to start the season, Gosselin is proving that a minor league contract can play a major role in building a winning roster.