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Though Philadelphia Phillies star Brandon Marsh has been dealing with an injury, he is set to have a breakout season this upcoming season due to the team's recent move. With the Phillies preparing for Opening Day, they have announced their plans to make Marsh more of a focus on both sides of the ball.
The team said that Marsh will be the “everyday center fielder” as well as “starting him against left-handed pitching,” which could have been an expectation since the ballclub has said in the past he was capable of handling those duties according to MLB.com.
“The Phillies say they are going to give Brandon Marsh runway early this season as the everyday center fielder, starting him against left-handed pitching,” Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote. “It is something the Phillies have said Marsh can do, although he has not had more than 110 plate appearances against lefties in any season since joining the organization in 2022.”
So far during spring training, Marsh has shown to be effective, especially against lefties as he's hitting three for seven or a .429 batting average with one double, three walks, and one strikeout. Overall, he was .290 or nine for 31 at the plate as he spoke about the work put in the offseason.
“I see the offseason work paying off a little bit,” Marsh said.
Phillies' Brandon Marsh honed in on a new aspect during offseason work
As fans lock in their bold predictions for the Phillies this season, there's no doubt they'll think about the impact Marsh will have for the team as he went through major work in the offseason to perfect the craft. He would even speak about working the machine which mimicked left-handed pitching with some help from batting coach Kevin Long.
“Just because … I guess you could say I was soft in that aspect,” Marsh said on why he wasn't a huge fan of the machine via MLB.com. “I didn’t like getting jammed and hurting the hands every day. But we used the soft balls — the foamy balls — that shoot up and have a bunch of break. One day, we had [Clayton] Kershaw’s curveball going, and it was a whole lot of fun. It was difficult. There were 10 swings in a row where it didn’t feel right, but then we found it and kept chugging until we got the feel for consistent reps. Yeah, it’s tough, left on left. But it’s also tough for the righties hitting right on right. They just do it a lot more.”
“I feel like the work has transferred well into the spring,” Marsh continued. “I’ve just got to transfer it into the 27th [Opening Day in D.C. on March 27]. And then from there on out.”
At any rate, Philadelphia looks to further improve after finishing last season at 95-67 which won them the NL East, though they were eliminated in the NLDS by the New York Mets in four games.
