Continuing our daily trip backwards through time in Philadelphia Phillies history from 1971-2019. Today we move on to the pitcher not previously covered in the series featuring that combination of little impact on the 2015 Phillies ball club and who is unlikely to have an impactful big-league career.
Born in Fargo, North Dakota, Seth Rosin was chosen by the San Francisco Giants with their fourth round selection in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Minnesota where he had made the All-Big Ten Team in both 2009 and 2010.
After a couple of seasons developing in the Giants farm system, Rosin was included as part of a package with Nate Schierholtz and Tommy Joseph in a 2012 trade deadline swap to the Phillies in exchange for outfielder Hunter Pence.
Rosin, who had been used mostly in relief in the San Francisco organization, was converted to a starting pitcher by the Phillies. With Double-A Reading in 2013 he went 9-6 with a 4.33 ERA while throwing 126.2 innings across 26 games, 23 of those as a starter.
After he advanced to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2013, the Phillies opted to expose him to the Rule 5 Draft that following off-season and Rosin was selected by the New York Mets, who that same day sold him to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rosin made the Dodgers roster for their 2014 Opening Series in Australia vs the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Grounds. However, he never appeared in the games and was released in late March.
Claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, Rosin finally got his first big-league opportunity when Texas manager Ron Washington brought the right-hander into a game at Globe Life Park in Arlington against the Phillies on March 31, 2014. Rosin tossed a shutout 9th inning in that game won by the Phillies in a 14-10 slugfest.
Two days later on April 2, 2014, Rosin earned his first win in Major League Baseball and it came against…the Phillies. He shut them down over the final two innings, and the Rangers rallied for three runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 4-3 walkoff victory.
Rosin would pitch once more for Texas before, on April 11, the Rangers decided that they could not keep him in the big-leagues all season. Based on the Rule 5 procedures the Rangers were forced to return him to the Phillies when a deal couldn’t be worked out between the two teams.
The Phillies sent Rosin to Double-A Reading where he excelled. Promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Rosin struggled some and did not receive a September promotion to the Majors.
After beginning the 2015 season back at Lehigh Valley, Rosin was finally summoned to Philadelphia. On June 20, 2015 in one of his final games as Phillies manager, Ryne Sandberg sent Rosin out to the mound in a game against the Saint Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park in which the Phillies already trailed 5-1.
That one-inning stint in South Philly would prove to be his only opportunity to pitch in a Phillies uniform, and his last in Major League Baseball. The Cardinals lit him up, scoring four runs on four hits, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a wild pitch.
Rosin was sent back to the minors and then became a free agent following the 2015 season. Over the next two years he would sign with the San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, the Independent ball St. Paul Saints, and then back with the Giants, but never got another big-league shot. Now 31, he is not likely to ever again pitch professionally.
MATT VEASEY 