The Philadelphia Phillies entered the offseason with a goal of upgrading an outfield mix that ranked a disappointing 20th overall in team fWAR last season. With free agent signing Max Kepler now in the fold as the team's everyday left fielder, the Phillies' 2025 outfield appears set, with Kepler, Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos expected to add some punch to a lineup that fell well short of expectations offensively last season.
The addition of Kepler has provided the Phillies an opportunity to slide Marsh over to center field, a move that almost certainly guarantees that the front office is not willing to risk another full season with the defensively gifted but offensively limited Johan Rojas as the primary center fielder. It's a move that figures to have Rojas likely seeing time as a right-handed complement to Marsh against left-handed pitching and as a late-inning defensive replacement capable of stealing a base in close game situations in 2025.
Phillies hope Brandon Marsh can finally figure out how to hit left-handed pitching in 2025
This new outfield arrangement surely looks good on paper, but it's worth noting that, like Rojas, Marsh is also a player with some very pronounced weaknesses remaining in the offensive part of his game. That being said, Phillies manager Rob Thomson gave Marsh plenty of opportunities last season to prove the naysayers wrong, but this season it would be wise for Thomson to give Marsh a quick hook if his struggles in one major area continue to be a problem next season.
It goes without saying that Brandon Marsh already has all the requisite tools necessary to become a well-above-average MLB hitter. Looking at it objectively, the only thing that's really preventing Marsh from having a baseball career similar to that of, say, Johnny Damon, is that Marsh's lack of success against left-handed pitching has become a learning curve that's now entering its fifth season.
When taking a deeper look at Marsh's overall 2024 stats, his .249 batting average, 104 hits, 16 home runs and 60 RBI in 418 at-bats all look reasonably solid. But Marsh's offensive performance was undeniably dragged down by less impressive splits against southpaws last season, producing a concerning .192 batting average, 15 hits, one home run and eight RBI in 90 total at-bats against left-handed pitching.
With Marsh likely penciled in as the Phillies' everyday center fielder next season, there's obviously a lot of room for improvement if Thomson plans on giving him another extended opportunity to face left-handed pitching on a regular basis in 2025. If FanGraph's recently updated 2025 Steamer projections for Marsh match up with actual performance, it's likely going to be an identical season at the plate for Marsh, with a projected batting average of .247, 15 home runs, 56 RBI and a 30.8 percent strikeout rate predicted to follow him into the upcoming season.
It's also possible that Marsh has put in a lot of work this offseason to improve his approach at the plate against left-handed pitching. Following another patchwork offseason of free agent signings and trades from the budget-conscious front office, the Phillies are surely hoping that 2025 will be the season that Marsh finally puts it all together as a major league hitter.