The Phillies trade season brings Brandon Marsh back into the spotlight: will he succeed as a regular player?

Chicago In certain of his first-six-year career matches, Kyle Schwarber lost playing time. It took over him. He desired to play all day long. He tried hitting lefties the same way he did righties. According to Schwarber, “I had no idea what I wanted to do.” He got to know Kevin Long in 2021 while they were both playing for the Washington Nationals. For lefties, they came up with a separate scheme. It became stuck. Thus, earlier in the season, Schwarber was enlisted by Long, the Phillies hitting coach. With his efforts against lefties, he had arrived at a favorable point. Schwarber now had to repay Brandon Marsh for his kindness. “Because I can relate to that,” Schwarber remarked.

Fifty days have passed since Marsh took the field against a lefty. Platoon player, he is one of the Phillies organization’s most interesting players this month. At the trade deadline, the team has to choose where to make upgrades. It might look for a superior outfielder to partner with Marsh who hits right-handed.

In the three months since the Phillies and Braves last met, a lot has happened. However, Marsh won’t start against lefty Max Fried when they play again on Friday night. When Marsh missed two of the three games in the season-opening series against Atlanta in March, the same thing occurred. Manager Rob Thomson and other team representatives have maintained that Marsh is more than just a platoon player. However, their behavior suggests otherwise. If a lefty is in the mound, Marsh is not a viable choice at this time.

“At this point,” Long said, “it’s not even in the conversation. Really. He’s not getting many … I can’t remember his last lefty game started.”

It was May 16.

“So he’s not in that picture right now,” Long said. “And he will be if we start feeling like his at-bats are getting better against lefties. That’s really what it boils down to.”

This season, Marsh is 7-for-46 versus lefties with 25 strikeouts. His lone extra-base hit against a lefty occurred on April 12 when he doubled off Bailey Falter of Pittsburgh. Marsh showed signs of improvement a season ago. He hit lefty fastballs with a.508 slugging percentage and a.317 average, at the very least. He’s batting well this season.143 on left-on-left fastballs with no extra-base hits. Marsh remarked, “We’ve been grinding, really trying to make it a point.” “I want to attempt to outperform righties as much as I can against lefties. Simply attempting to see the ball far and simply letting the swing happen.

This is Schwarber’s current methodology. Marsh remarked, “That’s my dude who I’m working with.” Schwarber has a good swing.In 2024, 341/.447/.532 vs lefties. He’s never been more against them than he is now. He’s utilizing the entire field. Schwarber is certain that Marsh can become a viable opponent for lefties. “Yes, in my opinion,” Schwarber replied. “I believe he possesses traits that make him very important, especially against right-handers. Furthermore, I fail to understand how that applies to left-handed pitchers.

“The thing is, it’s different. It’s something that you have to work at. You have to have a good plan and you have to keep doing it. And that’s something that he’s showing that he wants to do. He wants to keep working on it. He wants to get better at it.”

In a lopsided Phillies defeat to the Cubs on Thursday afternoon, Marsh hammered another pitch hard against a righty. The opening run of the game was scored by his single. Against righties, he has the 14th-highest average exit velocity in the majors. That is important. Schwarber said that there is a mental component to the matter. Right now, Marsh’s development into a more complete player and the Phillies’ desire to win as many games as possible are competing goals. When Schwarber was a younger hitter and the Cubs frequently platooned him, he experienced the same situation.

“I know I detest saying it?” stated Schwarber. However, the issue lies in being a part of a strong team. And I was that person. A hitter has certain ideas that cross their mind. If Marsh isn’t getting many opportunities against lefties, he feels pressured to do well each and every time. Schwarber responded, “That’s putting you in a bad spot.” He has emphasized to Marsh that labor is what really counts. If you’re happy with the way you approach the at-bats, the outcomes will follow. Finding this balance is difficult.

“He’s probably been too passive against lefties,” Long said. “That’s the thing I see. He’s just not swinging enough. He’s behind in the count a lot. He’s giving them way too much credit. He needs to attack them instead of waiting for them to come to him. He needs to be ready to go.”

This month is not a referendum on Marsh’s future; the Phillies can acquire a better platoon partner for him in the short term but not shut the door on a more regular role in 2025. It’s discouraging that these are the same conversations they had late in 2022 and all of 2023. The Phillies passed on a trade for an outfield upgrade last summer.

There are reasons to reconsider this time. Even a marginal upgrade could have a significant effect.

This season, the Phillies have used right-handed hitters Whit Merrifield and Cristian Pache in left field, totaling 112 plate appearances. They are striking as a group.170/.250/.250. This season, Merrifield has not made any hard contact. Pache hasn’t produced anything thus far. Regardless of the pitcher, the Phillies might benefit more from having Marsh, a powerful defender, start games in left field. Marsh’s season line versus lefties is.152/.226/.174, but it’s hard to do much worse than that.

The Phillies, arguably, could be better served by sticking Marsh, a strong defender, in left field no matter who is pitching. It’s hard to be worse, although Marsh’s .152/.226/.174 line against lefties this season is.

“He’s just not there against them,” Long said. “I told him it’s going to take a lot of work. And you have to be diligent in your work. You have to get in there and work on the lefty stuff five times a week. That’s what Schwarber did. So we’ve been on him about that. Staying on him. And he’s been more diligent with his work. We have to make sure that when he gets those at-bats, he at least can give us a good quality at-bat.”

It took Schwarber until he was 26 years old to reach 500 at-bats in a season. It was his third major league season in its whole. The Chicago Cubs saw Schwarber’s genuine progress that year, and they offered him more opportunities against lefties. Marsh, who is 26, is currently in his third season. Long demonstrated to Schwarber how he assisted in developing Curtis Granderson into a regular player. As Schwarber got better against lefties, he studied Anthony Rizzo’s techniques. All of these are things that Schwarber and Long are crossing over to Marsh.

Schwarber is certain that Marsh can succeed. Schwarber reminds Marsh of an at-bat from the National League Championship Series’ Game 4 during the previous postseason. To tie the game, Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Andrew Saalfrank allowed Marsh to drive a double to left center. Schwarber predicted that the more he practices, the more at ease he will become. For the time being, that work must be done in the background. The benefits may not always be evident, and it can be taxing, particularly because Marsh is aware that he won’t begin against lefties. He’s being asked to believe in the Phillies’ idea.

However, they are unsure of how it will pan out. Is Marsh able to succeed as a major league regular? “I’m not sure,” Long replied. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure how to respond to that. All I know is that he’s an athletic and skillful enough player to be able to handle it. And he hasn’t up until now. Thus, we need to improve.