Catcher Rafael Marchán is back on the roster. (Madeline Ressler/Phillies Nation)
With MLB rosters expanding from 26 to 28 for September, the Phillies have added two players in the midst of their playoff push in the last month of the regular season..
Joining the team for the month of September are catcher Rafael Marchán and right-handed pitcher Grant Holman. (Per MLB rules, only one September call-up may be a pitcher.)
Marchán returns to the major-league roster after spending over a month on the IL with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Prior to the injury, he hit .102/.141/.170 in 92 plate appearances with the big league club this year. He had been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley since August 13, but given his lackluster production, the Phillies might not have been in a rush to recall him to the major leagues prior to roster expansion.
Holman, meanwhile, has been with the Phillies organization since May 7, when he was claimed off waivers from the Tigers. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB draft, and has 38 ⅔ innings of major-league experience, all with the A’s in 2024 and 2025.
The 26-year-old has a career 4.66 ERA in the big leagues, but he’s impressed with the Triple-A IronPigs since joining the Phillies organization. In 13 games at Triple-A since July 19, Holman has a 1.04 ERA across 17 ⅓ innings, striking out 10 batters while walking just two. With a 67% groundball rate in that span to go with his impressive command, Holman seems poised to help eat some innings out of the bullpen for the Phillies in September, if nothing else.
