Who should be gone when Phillies welcome back Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh?

There's good news on the injury front with the Philadelphia Phillies reportedly close to welcoming back two important pieces to the lineup. Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh are likely to be activated from the IL as early as this weekend.

The return of Turner and Marsh will be a welcome sight for an offense that has been scuffling since the team arrived back from the London Series at the beginning of the week.

Turner, who suffered a hamstring strain and was placed on the IL on May 4, has been seen taking ground balls and running at full strength before games. He has progressed enough that he will likely be activated on Saturday afternoon for Game 2 of the series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Marsh, who suffered a mild hamstring strain on June 3, made his first rehab appearance on Thursday night for Double-A Reading. Starting at DH, he went 3-for-5 with two strikeouts in the contest. According to MLB.com, Marsh is expected to play centerfield for seven to nine innings on Friday, and if all goes as planned, could also be activated on Saturday in Baltimore.

With Turner and Marsh looking likely to return this weekend, the Phillies front office will have some difficult decisions to make in order to create room on the 26-man roster.

Who should be gone when Phillies welcome back Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh?

It's an absolute certainty that two position players will be moved to make room for Turner and Marsh when they are activated, but who from the trio of Cristian Pache, Weston Wilson and David Dahl will be the last man standing when the final decision is made?

Wilson still has minor league options there's little doubt that he'll be one of the two roster casualties this weekend. The 28-year-old minor league journeyman has seen sparse time on the field since he was recalled to the MLB roster to take the spot of an injured Brandon Marsh on June 3. Appearing in only two games, Wilson was hitless in four plate appearances, and seems like the easiest and most obvious candidate to be optioned to Triple-A this weekend.

Who will survive: Pache or Dahl?

The other two, Pache and Dahl, are out of options, so the Phillies can't send either of them down to Triple-A without their consent. That's a rare occurrence and unlikely to happen. Players navigating this circumstance usually opt for minor league free agency and the chance to latch on with another MLB team that has more playing time opportunities.

Pache has been a member of the Phillies since being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in spring training last year and had a tough time staying healthy throughout most of the 2023 season. While he has provided steady defense during his limited opportunities, the former top prospect has never seen his bat progress to a level where manager Rob Thomson has been comfortable playing him on a regular basis. In 60 at-bats this season, Pache is hitting an unremarkable .217 with 13 hits, zero home runs and eight RBI.

Dahl has provided some much-needed pop in the absence of Turner and Marsh since he was recalled from Triple-A on June 3. The former All-Star latched on with the organization this past spring on a minor league contract after bouncing around with three different teams over the last three seasons.

In 19 at-bats, Dahl is hitting .263 with five hits, two home runs, and three RBI. Just looking at a recent trend, it's a bit telling that Dahl made three consecutive starts in left field in the series versus the Boston Red Sox.

By playing Dahl regularly this week, did Topper tip the organization's hand over the future direction of the fourth outfielder role? It's a very real possibility, and the Phillies have looked like a more complete team with the addition of Dahl's power on the bench. While nothing is certain, it's starting to look like Cristian Pache may be the odd man out when the Phillies travel to Baltimore this weekend.