Battling Bucs : A Look Ahead: Potential September Call Ups

In about two short weeks the Pirates will look to bolster their roster by calling up a few extra players. There is no doubt they will call up someone, but the questions of who and how many are sure to be prevalent. There is no real way for us to know what they are planning, but we can try our best to formulate a guess. The best place to start is to look at how they have treated the call ups during the last two years while they have been in the thick of contention.
2013
Call Ups: LHP Kris Johnson, RHP Kyle Farnsworth, RHP Brandon Cumpton, C Tony Sanchez*, RHP Jared Hughes*, OF Andrew Lambo*, LHP Jeff Locke*
Activated from DL: OF Travis Snider, OF Starling Marte, RHP Jason Grilli
Added in Late August: C John Buck, OF Marlon Byrd, 1B Justin Morneau, RHP Stolmy Pimentel
The Pirates brought their roster total up to 35 players thanks to 7 call ups and 3 players returning from the disabled list but if you look at the names they "called up" you will see the players marked with a * really didn't fit the usual description. The four players marked with an * were on the roster into late August when they were removed for a matter of just a few days to make room for the final four players listed. Three of the four were acquired via waiver trades and the 4th, Pimentel, was surprisingly added on 8/31 to make him postseason eligible.
Basically the Pirates opted to add 1 catcher, 4 other position players and 5 pitchers
2014
Call Ups: RHP John Holdzkom, C Tony Sanchez, LHP Booby LaFromboise, RHP Casey Sadler, IF Chase d'Arnaud, RHP Gerrit Cole*, LHP Jeff Locke*, OF Gregory Polanco*
Activated From DL: RHP Charlie Morton, RHP Stolmy Pimentel
Added in Late August: 3B Brent Morel, OF Andrew Lambo, OF Jose Tabata
Once again the call ups can be deceiving. Cole, Locke and Polanco were all with the team late into August when they were "optioned" to the minors to make room for other players. This time there were no trades but position players were added in the final few days of August to give the Pirates a deeper bench.
Once again the Pirates essentially added 1 C, 4 other position players and 5 pitchers
There is no guarantee the Pirates will follow the same template this year but it does give us a starting point. Now lets look at who may be available to be recalled.
Currently On The DL
Pitchers: AJ Burnett, Brandon Cumpton, Deolis Guerra, Rob Scahill
Obviously Cumpton won't be returning as he is out for the season. Burnett has made it known he is going to try to return so he is a safe bet to be added as is the currently rehabbing Scahill. Guerra is the question mark but with no signs of him getting ready to go on a rehab stint I would assume his season is over.
Position Players: Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer, Corey Hart, Andrew Lambo
At this point its safe to assume Hart has seen his last days in a Pirates (and likely and MLB) uniform. Lambo has never managed to recover from his foot injury so he too is down. Both Harrison and Mercer will obviously rejoin the team but their rehab time runs out August 30th meaning its not likely they are September call ups. Mercer does have an option remaining though so the Pirates could opt to hold him down an extra couple of days to preserve depth.
Others On The 40 Man
Pitchers: John Holdzkom, Nick Kingham, Bobby LaFromboise, Casey Sadler, Jameson Taillon
This is a really easy one to analyze. All signs point to Holdzkom, Kingham, Sadler and Taillion being done for the season so the chances of any of them joining the team in September is remote. That leaves LaFromboise who at first glance would appear to be a lock to join the team as a third left hander for the bullpen but the prensence of Happ complicates that as he will likely be forced into the bullpen once AJ returns.
Position Players: Elias Diaz, Tony Sanchez, Alen Hanson, Jaff Decker, Willy Garcia
The Pirates will surely call up one of Diaz or Sanchez but likely not both. My gut tells me Sanchez as I can't see the Pirates calling up Diaz to serve as a 3rd string catcher who will rarely (if ever) play and I think they will value having him participate in the AAA playoffs. As for Hanson, Decker and Garcia right now they all seem like legitimate candidates. Decker is in line to be potentially the top left handed bat off the bench (more on that later) and Hanson looks like possibly the only viable infield candidate if Mercer isn't held down. I don't see Garcia being added as Morse and presumably Ramirez would both have priority over him as a RH bench bat but anything is possible.
In the Organization But Not On the 40 Man
Pitchers: Wilfredo Boscan, Tyler Glasnow, Radhames Liz, AJ Morris, Angel Sanchez, Chris Volstad, Blake Wood, Vance Worley
This list could of course go on forever but I limited to players who I feel have a legitimate case. First off, no matter your view on the subject Glasnow is not going to be added. We can probably also safely drop off Sanchez and Morris, who are dealing with injury issues at the moment. Boscan also seems like a long shot as the Pirates were low enough on him to drop him from the 40 man roster despite him having options remaining. That leaves us Liz, Volstad, Wood and Worley. In my view Worley is basically a lock to be added. Volstad doesn't look to have a place with Blanton and Worley both serving as long releivers. Liz's surge since joining the rotation is probably intriguing enough for the Pirates to want to take another look and while Holdzom's injury does provide Wood an opening his recent struggles probably means he stays down.
Position Players: Dan Gamache, Steve Lombardozzi, Gift Ngoepe, Keon Broxton, Gorkys Hernandez. Travis Ishikawa*, Pedro Florimon*
Not an exciting list here. Ngoepe would have hadd a case as a defensive specialist/pinch runner but he is doen for the season with injuries. Gamache and Lombardozzi are capable of playing a lot of positions and could be useful but with everyone who is returning Sean Rodriguez will be occupying that same spot so that seems unlikey. Broxton and Hernandez are both solid defensive right handed hitting outfielders who could pinch run and that seems like the type of players the Pirates could use so I see one of them being recalled with Hernandez having the slight edge.
Obviously Ishikawa and Florimon currently occupy a 40 man roster spot but they seem like the most logical candidates to come off the 25 man roster to make room for Harrison and Mercer. Assuming they do both would need to be DFA'd and if they cleared waivers they would have a chance to accept an assignment and likely be added in September. I doubt Ishikawa would do this but I could see Florimon doing so.
Outside The Organization
This is of course basically waiver trades and while these guys likely wouldn't be September call ups (they would need added in August to be postseason eligible) they would be late August adds who would essentially serve the same purpose as September call ups. I'm not even going to speculate on who these guys might be but the obvious area would be a Starting Pitcher.
There is one more player who has been recently released and whom the Pirates are known to have interest in and that is Travis Snider. Due to the make up of the roster all I could see the Pirates interesting in giving Snider would be a minor league deal with the intent to call him up for September. Now seeing as he would likely take the Decker/Ishikawa top LHH on the bench role he would likely have to be added in August via "optioning" Cole or Happ down upon them making their last August start.
Prediction Time
Sticking with the formula the Pirates have used in recent seasons, it's not easy to put together their 10 additions but below would be my best guess.
Pitchers: AJ Burnett, Rob Scahill, Bobby LaFromboise, Vance Worley, Radhames Liz
Catcher: Tony Sanchez
Other Position Players: Alen Hanson, Travis Snider, Gorkys Hernandez, Pedro Florimon
There is a problem with this though. The Pirates would need to find 5 open 40 man spots to make room for Worley, Liz, Snider, Hernandez and Florimon and I just don't see that as likely. Two spots would be open with Ishikawa and Florimon being DFA'd and a 3rd could easily be created by placing Guerra on the 60 day DL. The final two spots would likely have to come from some combination of releasing Decker or placing Holdzkom or Sadler on the 60 day DL. I'm not so sure they go that route. So maybe something like Decker over Snider and no re-adding of Florimon is the way they will go. One thing is for certain though it will be fascinating to see the roster maneuvering.