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Look, we know things are slow here with your hometown nine. All the big players have been traded, an off-season that will be among the most intriguing in baseball is still two months away, and the Phillies are playing out the string of another losing season.
Perhaps the greatest amount of intrigue over the last month will be the existential fight from within between wanting the team to win games and wanting them to get the number-one overall pick in the draft.
But, on Tuesday, rosters expanded and the Phils took that opportunity to promote three players to the big leagues for the final month of the season.
Fan favorite Erik Kratz will be making his return to Philadelphia, along with right-handed pitchers Dalier Hinojosa and Colton Murray. All three were playing with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Kratz, the best darned turkey bacon salesman in the western hemisphere...
...will be tasked with giving Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp an additional day off here and there. He has played in the minor league systems of the Royals, Red Sox and Mariners this season before signing with the Phils. He hit .312 with three homers and 15 RBIs after joining the Iron Pigs on 2015.
This will be Hinojosa's second cup of coffee with the Phils, he pitched five innings earlier this year, struck out five, allowed two hits and gave up no walks and no runs. In 29 games between the Red Sox' Triple-A affiliate and Lehigh Valley, he posted an ERA of 3.76 in 55 innings, with 52 strikeouts and 22 walks. However, he did allow eight earned runs in 13 innings with the Iron Pigs.
For the 25-year-old Murray, this will be his first taste of big league action. in 31 games for the Iron Pigs this year (42 innings), he had an ERA of 2.79, with 41 strikeouts and 21 walks. Both Murray and Hinojosa will aid a bullpen that has been seriously overworked thanks to lackluster starting pitching for most of the season.
In order to make room for the new additions, Chad Billingsley and Matt Harrison were added to the 60-day disabled list in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Kratz and Murray.
It is also possible that other players could get called up after Reading completes their season. The Fightin' Phils are headed to the playoffs, and the Phillies won't be subtracting players from that roster until their season has ended.
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