MLB Midseason Surprises: Brandon Marsh Emerging as Unexpected Standout

Brandon Marsh’s time spent with the Philadelphia Phillies has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. Because the Phillies were required to transfer Logan O’Hoppe back to the Angels in exchange for his acquisition in 2022, there was some confusion regarding the transaction. Dave Dombrowski considered the addition of O’Hoppe, who was considered by some to be a platoon player, to be an excessive payment at the time. At that time, O’Hoppe was seen to be the obvious successor to J.T. Realmuto.

The conclusion that can be drawn from that transaction is that it was a successful one.

Nevertheless, in the years that followed, Rob Thomson was unable to resist the allure of the platoon to the same extent. Marsh was immediately relegated to the bench anytime a southpaw was on the mound against the squad, despite the fact that the data that supported the decision were reasonable (.202/.276/.309 in 393 PA against LHP from 2022-25). The fact that his stats have improved significantly this year (.273/.305/.429 in 82 PA against left-handed pitchers) has resulted in him receiving more playing time against southpaws. It does not hurt that the team did not have a right-handed alternative that was better than Marsh to take on that platoon with him, but it does remind me a little bit of Chase Utley when he was first introduced to the major leagues. The fact that he had difficulty with left-handed pitching was another one of his shortcomings; yet, it was abundantly clear that all he needed was to be exposed to left-handed pitching more frequently. His natural hitting talent was so strong that he ought to have been able to achieve significant success.

The success that Marsh has had against left-handed pitchers has carried over and contributed to increased overall numbers. However, his ability to crush right-handed hitters has not changed. The fact of the matter is that Marsh’s 121 OPS+ ranks eighth among all outfielders in the game since the beginning of the previous season. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that he has been successful this year because he has been good for quite some time. On the other hand, in a season in which some things have been wonderful and some things have been awful, you picked Marsh’s year as the most shocking thing about them.

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