The Philadelphia Phillies face significant questions this offseason as they attempt to retool a roster capable of making another World Series run. Their outfield, in particular, remains an unresolved problem after another season in which the organization struggled to find dependable everyday production at the corners.
“The Phillies are poised for bigger changes than ever before this year across the board, with several long-standing members of the team heading for free agency and plenty of money coming off the books,” Lochlahn March wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “But the outfield is in an all-too-familiar stasis. Once again, the Phillies have not found a reliable, everyday corner outfielder.”
As the Phillies evaluate their options for 2027, Brandon Marsh’s future has become an important part of that conversation. The outfielder appeared to take a significant step forward during the first half of the season, earning his first All-Star selection, but his subsequent struggles created another challenge for Philadelphia’s front office.
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Marsh’s disappointing second half has driven the Phillies to make a firm decision about his role going into next season.
“I don’t know what happened to Marsh the second half of the year,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, per March. “I think at this point, we have to say OK for us, we need to complement him.”
The comments suggest Dombrowski has definitively accepted that Marsh will require a platoon partner next season, and that he cannot be expected to handle an everyday role. That’s a harsh disappointment after his stellar first-half performance offered hope that he could become a more dependable option, but his late-season decline complicated that outlook.
“Marsh’s in-season decline is rare for an All-Star player,” Matt Gelb noted for The Athletic. “The last All-Star with a sub-.500 OPS in the second half (minimum 150 plate appearances) was catcher Yasmani Grandal with the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers (.498), according to research by MLB.com. No Phillies player — All-Star or not — has had a second-half OPS this low (.480) since Steve Jeltz’s .368 in 1988.”
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The Phillies’ outfield search will have to extend beyond finding a platoon partner for Marsh. Bryce Harper is expected to return to first base, leaving the club with additional work to do at the corner-outfield positions.
The free-agent market could provide several possibilities, including Seiya Suzuki, Randy Arozarena and Ian Happ, although the Phillies will need to weigh offensive production, defensive fit and financial commitments.
Marsh, meanwhile, will have an opportunity to reestablish himself under a new hitting coach after Philadelphia dismissed Kevin Long. A more effective approach against both left- and right-handed pitching could help him reclaim a larger role, though for now it seems Dombrowski has accepted that he won’t be able to face both right- and left-handed pitchers.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com