After flying high for the first three months of the Major League Baseball season, the Philadelphia Phillies are reeling.
The Phillies are 7-16 since the All-Star break, and they have dropped seven of their last eight series. The offense, which featured three players named to the All-Star team, has cratered, while the pitching staff, tops in the game for most of the season, has suffered some injury setbacks.
Tuesday night may have been the low point for the Phillies, as they dropped the series opener to the Miami Marlins and unheralded rookie pitcher Valente Bellozo by a score of 5-0. The offense is officially scuffling, and the structure of the current lineup may need to change to fix it.
A potential culprit who could be in line for diminished playing time is outfielder Brandon Marsh, who is in the midst of a terrible slump. According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, benching Marsh is one strategy manager Rob Thomson could consider to shake things up.
Per Gelb, Thomson was asked Tuesday night if Marsh needs to make more contact to keep him in the everyday lineup.
“He needs to make more contact,” Thomson said. “Sure.”
Marsh, 26, has become a fan-favorite in Philadelphia since he was traded there in 2022. His wild hair and beard, his fun-loving personality, and his ability to torture right-handed pitchers have all landed him in the good graces of Philadelphians for the past three seasons.
However, Marsh has not been the same hitter since returning from a hamstring injury in mid-June. He is batting .201 with a .280 on-base percentage in 45 games since the injury, and in August, he is batting .139 with just a single extra-base hit.
When the Phillies acquired Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline, Thomson surprised some by saying he would give Hays a chance to be an everyday player. That meant putting Marsh in a platoon with Johan Rojas, the speedy right-handed center fielder.
Now, Marsh could be in line for even more of a dip in playing time. Gelb said that any change would likely be temporary, but at some point, he needs to start producing like the Phillies know he can.
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