Following roster expansion, the Diamondbacks called up Randy Choate, Doug Devore, LHP Mike Gosling, Rob Hammock, and OF-L Josh Kroeger while activating Greg Colbrunn and Scott Service from the disabled list.

Arizona drafted Gosling out of Stanford University with a second round pick in the 2001 draft. He spent 2002 at AA El Paso in the Texas League and last season at AAA Tucson in the Pacific Coast League. Repeating AAA this year, he compiled a 67:53 K:BB with 160 H and 16 HR allowed in 128.1 IP for a 5.82 ERA over 24 appearances, including 21 starts. He lacks dominance and suffers from control problems. Jumping directly to AA may have stalled his development, but I think the Diamondbacks are more likely to move the 24-year-old into relief than to employ the strategy Toronto used with Roy Halladay, sending him to the bottom of their organization to work his way back up as a starter.

On the other hand, his September debut is going better than I would have expected. Grabbing his first major league win in St. Louis bought him some positive attention, and he is set to make two more starts before the end of the season. If those go well, Gosling could enter spring training with an edge on a rotation spot rather than as someone beginning a conversion to relief. Unfortunately, I will be surprised if such a move turns out to be more than empty optimism on the part of a Diamondbacks' organization not ready to admit that they did not get the quality left-handed starter they hoped for with that second round pick.

Arizona drafted Kroeger out of high school with a fourth round pick in the 2000 draft. After spending the remainder of that season with their Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate, he advanced to A South Bend in the Midwest League in 2001 and then spent a season and a half at A+ Lancaster in the California League. Kroeger finished 2003 at AA El Paso and returned there this spring, however he advanced midseason to AAA Tucson, where he hit .332 with a .376 OBP and .587 SLG on 69 H, 23 2B, and 10 HR with a 15:47 BB:K and 2/3 SB% in 208 AB prior to his big league call up.

While Kroeger's plate discipline needs improvement, he possesses substantial power potential. His lack of patience has hindered him in his first taste of the majors and should persuade the Diamondbacks to let the 22-year-old have at least another half-season at AAA before they assign him a major league starting job. Meanwhile, he should make a few more starts and get regular playing time off the bench over the remainder of the season.