With September upon us and pennant races in fill swing, teams are about to make important call-ups that will have a significant effect on their chances of success in the final month. If you are not already aware, baseball has a different set of roster rules when the season enters September. Up until this point, teams play each game with their “active” roster. The active roster is made up of 25 players from the 40-man roster. A player must be on the 40-man roster to be eligible to be called up to the active 25 roster. In September, active rosters expand to 40 men, giving teams the opportunity to call up everyone on their respective 40-man rosters. For many teams this is an opportunity to evaluate young prospects at the big league level for next year, for others it is a chance to add key members for the playoff push.
Here are the top likely September call-ups for each NL Central playoff contender. These are not necessarily the top prospect in each team’s system, only the top prospect likely to be promoted in September.
St. Louis Cardinals:
Marco Gonzales: The Cardinals #4 prospect by midseason according to MLB.com, Marco Gonzales has been limited this year due to a shoulder injury. Now back and seemingly healthy, Gonzales is almost a guarantee to be a September call-up, and an important one, too. The Cardinals have limited left-handed depth in the bullpen after Kevin Siegrist. Randy Choate has struggled again this year, and Gonzales was a valuable member of the Cardinals bullpen last year down the stretch and in playoffs; he picked up two wins in relief in the NLDS against the Dodgers. A natural starter, he also gives the Cardinals another reliever who can pitch multiple innings. It would be a shock if he is not up and contributing for the Cardinals in September.
Pittsburgh Pirates:
Alen Hanson: Tyler Glasnow would definitely be the top guy over Hanson, but GM Neil Huntington has already claimed Glasnow is “not in our plans”, so Hanson becomes the top guy. He is already on the Pirates 40-man roster, making it an easy move for the Pirates to call him up. Hanson is the Pirates 5th-best prospect and is the 3rd-best second base prospect according to MLB.com. Hanson has started almost all of his games at second base this year but has played a lot of shortstop in the past, making him a potentially valuable and versatile bench bat for the pirates. He is also a switch hitter, which adds yet another dimension to he presence off the bench. Hanson leads the International League with 33 stolen bases and can at the very least add more speed to a Pirates team that is already top-10 in steals.
Chicago Cubs:
Javier Baez: While Baez technically isn’t a prospect any longer, he still remains clearly the Cubs top potential September call-up this season. Like Hanson and Gonzales, Baez is also on the 40-man roster already and, according to reports, is expected to be called up right away when rosters expand. Prior to last season, Baez had been a top-10 prospect in all of baseball according to every major publication and has been a highly regarded prospect throughout his entire time in the minors. Though he struggled mightily last year in his time in the majors, hitting .169 and striking out 95 times in 52 games, he has seemingly turned it around at Triple-A this year, as he is hitting .324 with a .385 OBP, 13 homers, and 17 steals. He still has a ton of potential and should be a valuable bench bat for the Cubs, and may even make several starts for them down the stretch.
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