Brandon Marsh’s breakthrough no surprise to Kyle Schwarber: He has a ‘high ceiling, and he’s tapping into it’

When Brandon Marsh homered off White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay on Friday night, he didn’t immediately know the significance of it.

It was only later in the Phillies clubhouse postgame when Marsh learned that it had marked his first home run off a left-handed starter since July 16, 2022 — when he was still a member of the Angels.

“Pretty cool,” Marsh said. “On to the next.”

Marsh, 28, has fielded plenty of questions over his career about his weakness against left-handed pitching. Across his first five seasons in the majors, Marsh posted a .213 average against lefties.

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This year, though, he’s hitting .277 against them, and the questions have been a little different.

Marsh said advice from other left-handed hitters on the team, specifically Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Bryson Stott, has helped him improve his approach this year. But more experience also is a factor.

“I think you just learn more and more every single day, and getting a little bit more comfortable,” Marsh said.

He’s had the benefit of plenty of experience this year, as he’s played his way into an everyday role for the first time on the Phillies under interim manager Don Mattingly. Marsh has been the Phillies’ most consistent hitter all season, and it’s been hard for Mattingly to justify holding him — and his MLB-leading .332 batting average entering Saturday — out of the lineup, no matter who’s on the mound.

“He’s got a good swing, No. 1, it’s where it starts,” Mattingly said. “It’s really about game playing with lefties on lefties, where you got to start balls and things like that. And he’s getting better at that.”

With the increased opportunity and experience, the results have followed.

“We’ve talked about it,” Schwarber said. “I feel like he’s growing a lot. He’s growing into that. You can talk about all you want, but also, too, you have to have experience, and you have to keep going out there and keep getting the at-bats.

“And there’s going to be at-bats that you have success, and there’s going to be at-bats where you’re just going to feel like it’s not competitive. That’s the nature of the game, where you can’t always have the A-plus stuff, but also being able to learn from each of that and keep moving forward and apply it to your next one, I feel like he’s been doing a really good job of that.”

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Schwarber underwent his own mid-career transformation against left-handed pitchers. When he signed with the Nationals in 2021, they envisioned him as a platoon player. But consistent work over several seasons helped him become not just serviceable against lefties, but a matchup-buster.

Last season, Schwarber bashed 23 homers to set a single-season major league record for the most from a left-handed batter off a left-handed pitcher.

And he’s not surprised with what he’s seeing from Marsh this season.

“To be honest with you, I’ve always seen it,” he said. “I’ve always seen it in him. I know a lot of guys have always seen it in him. There’s such a high ceiling, and he’s tapping into it. … He’s obviously having really good results, but even just the process of the at-bats, and taking pitches, taking some tough ones, and working deeper counts, too. … I got a lot of belief in him, just like we have a lot of belief in everyone in our room.”

The White Sox used left-handed opener Brandon Eisert in front of scheduled starter Sean Burke on Saturday. … Reliever Zach Pop, who was designated for assignment on May 30, cleared waivers and elected free agency. … Aaron Nola (3-4, 5.55 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale against White Sox right-hander David Sandlin (1-1, 8.10).

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Previous episodes: Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola