Coming into the 2025 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies had an area they needed to fix that appeared to be a glaring hole in their overall bona fide roster. That area happened to be the offensive production of their outfield from anyone not named Nick Castellanos.
Last season, Phillies left fielders ranked 21st in the league in both home runs (17) and RBIs (65). At the same time, Phillies center fielders struggled even more, ranking 27th in home runs (nine) and 24th in RBIs (60). No one can question the defensive abilities of both Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas, who happened to have the most playing time in those respective positions last year. However, their offensive output has left a lot to be desired.
As a result, Philadelphia looked for ways to upgrade their outfield without sacrificing too much of their defense in the process. In 2024, they made a move to acquire Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline, but that experiment turned out to be a complete failure.
Even though it's early, the Phillies are already paying for their offseason outfield decisions
This past offseason, the Phillies had the opportunity to dream big with the likes of Juan Soto, Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández available in free agency and both Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger available via trade. However, they chose to stay conservative and signed veteran Max Kepler from the free agent market instead.
After that, the Phillies made no other outfield upgrades for the rest of the offseason.
In doing so, it meant that the Phillies came into the season with an outfield that consisted of Castellanos and some combination of Kepler, Marsh and Rojas. In the end, Rojas became the fourth outfielder following spring training while Kepler and Marsh were deemed the main starters, joining Castellanos with the so-called “full-time” roles at their positions.
However, now over two weeks into the regular season, that outfield plan from the offseason certainly hasn’t been paying off for the Phillies. In fact, it's starting to become a complete mess, no matter how you see it.
Castellanos hasn’t been an issue. He's back to his usual productive self, having compiled a solid .308 batting average and .910 OPS, with six runs scored, two home runs and seven RBIs in 11 games before Thursday’s contest. But both Kepler and Marsh have been struggling immensely with offensive production coming out of the gate.
Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh have struggled at the plate early on
Following a strong showing during training camp, Kepler has amassed a disappointing .212 average and .714 OPS heading into Thursday, with just one home run and one RBI in 10 games, despite hitting in the middle part of the order. More significantly, as a known righty masher, he has hit only .190 against right-handed pitching this season.
As for Marsh, he hasn’t performed any better, posting a dismal .143 average, .523 OPS, along with just two runs scored, one home run and four RBIs in 10 games. And forget about his weakness against left-handed pitching. He has fared much worse facing right-handed pitching this year, registering just an abysmal .105 batting average and .453 OPS.
So surely, Rojas should at least receive some more playing time with both Kepler and Marsh struggling, right? Well, not quite.
The 24-year-old outfielder has started only three games all season, while amassing a grand total of just nine at-bats. He has hit for a strong .444 average and .944 OPS with an RBI and a stolen base. But for a promising young player still growing and developing his game, riding the bench and not playing him when his bat appears to be clicking just doesn’t seem right at all.
Is playing Edmundo Sosa in the outfield the best solution the Phillies can come up with?
As for other makeshift options, Edmundo Sosa could be an intriguing play as he currently has one of the hottest bats in the Phillies lineup. The 29-year-old infielder has been productive this year, hitting a stellar .478 with a 1.152 OPS, with four runs scored and six RBIs in seven games.
As a result, we have seen the Phillies experiment with him in left field. He made his first professional start in the outfield on April 8 against the Atlanta Braves. But having Sosa learn the position on the fly might not be the wisest option.
For one, there will likely be some headaches to start, like the miscommunication between Sosa and Rojas during his Sosa's first game in left. Secondly, it could affect his hitting with his mind focused on picking up his new position, as witnessed with his 0-for-3 night with two strikeouts against the Braves.
But then again, he also did this, so the experiment could be given a slightly longer leash.
No matter how you look at it, it appears it will likely be an ongoing issue for the Phillies to figure out this season until Kepler and/or Marsh starts turning things around or Rojas manages to get more playing time and has a breakout season as a result. Otherwise, the outfield could continue to be the Phillies’ Achilles heel, one that they sincerely hope will not come back to bite them in their quest for the World Series.