The Philadelphia Phillies are just about ready to roll out the Opening Day lineup card and kickstart a much more hopeful 2025. The flurry of acquisitions and trades from MLB teams has passed, and teams are now focused on rounding out their final rosters.
The Phillies did make a few moves this offseason, despite the lack of true financial flexibility. They brought in Max Kepler, a 10-year veteran of the Twins organization, to take over the left field position in 2025. Although securing one outfield spot is great, center field remained a question without a definitive solution heading into camp. That is until they gave Brandon Marsh the green light to open the season as the everyday center fielder.
Are Phillies making a mistake with early-season plans for center field?
With limitations on spending on impact free agents came the requirement of an internal fix within the clubhouse. The Phillies filled one hole in left field with Kepler, but center field has been primarily a platoon role the last few seasons. While Marsh and Johan Rojas have split time in center recently, the Phillies have made it Marsh's job to lose going forward, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
Marsh's biggest hang-up in the past has been his lack of hitting against left-handed pitching. For his career, he's hit .269 against right-handers, but just .216 against left-handers. His splits continued to trend downward in 2024 as he hit .262 versus right-handers and .192 versus left-handers. On top of the career batting average gap, his career OPS also drops 205 points.
The Phillies have some optimism with Marsh when he does put the ball in play, as he holds a career .374 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). He only faced lefties in 90 plate appearances last season, so the Phillies are hoping Marsh can even it out through the course of a full season. He's earned his chance to play center field every day for the Phillies. His nomination for the 2024 NL Gold Glove Award in left field proves his worth with the glove.
The Phillies don't have a ton of other options so their hands are kind of tied at this juncture anyway. Marsh has shown glimpses of being a sustainable piece, so it's well worth the risk of trying him out every day. He still has things to work on, like the strikeouts, hitting against lefties and just overall discipline at the plate, but Marsh showed promise in spring training. He hit .256 with one home run, five RBI, an .821 OPS with 15 walks and nine strikeouts in 19 games.
The club has made adjustments to make the team better, so hopefully this is another move in the right direction for Marsh and the Phillies to get the team right for 2025.
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