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The Phillies announced today that they have promoted 31 year old outfielder Brian Bogusevic to the majors from triple-A Lehigh Valley, opening a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring injured pitcher Elvis Araujo to the 60-day DL.
Without having seen any confirming information, my guess is that this confirms the team expects Domonic Brown to miss most or all the rest of the season. Bogusevic adds another lefty bat with some pop to Pete Mackanin's bench: the journeyman delivered a .295/.360/.426 line with 12 home runs for the IronPigs this season, and saw time at all three outfield positions.
Originally drafted by the Astros in the first round back in 2005, Bogusevic made his big league debut five seasons later. His best major league performance came in 2011, when he batted .287/.348/.457 with four homers in 182 plate appearances for Houston. But in a much larger sample the following year, he posted a sub-.600 OPS and was soon traded to the Cubs, with whom he last saw big league time in 2013.
With so many young outfielders--Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, Darnell Sweeney, I guess in some sense Cody Asche--in need of playing time, Bogusevic isn't likely to get many starts. But it's a big league check and per diem, and couldn't hurt his chances on the quad-A job market this winter. As for others in the organization, as friend of TGP Matt Winkelman points out on Twitter, this is not a great reflection for Bogusevic's former triple-A outfield mates:
Congratulations to Bogus, but man does this look bad on Danks and Dugan https://t.co/63DYmUqoh5
— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) September 4, 2015
As for Araujo, his rookie season ends with a 3.38 ERA, 3.19 FIP and 34 strikeouts in 34.2 innings pitched. While a groin strain is obviously no fun, it shouldn't hamper the 24 year old lefty going forward. In the log of the Phillies' roster moves over the past 12 months, securing Araujo--whose previous professional experience was highlighted by 21 innings at AA last year--might not be the highlight. But offering him a major league roster spot was a canny move that might well have secured a useful arm as the rebuild continues next year.