Phillies prepare for lineup flexibility by working out Brandon Marsh in left field

MIAMI — A few days ago, Phillies manager Rob Thomson approached Brandon Marsh with an idea. He knew Marsh had played left field with the Angels for most of the 2022 season because Mike Trout was in center field. He asked Marsh how he felt out there.

“Good,” Marsh said.

“Ok,” Thomson responded. “Go get some work in left, just in case we need to stick you over there in a game.”

For Marsh, that work started on Saturday afternoon. He and first base coach Paco Figueroa went out to left field and did some drills. Most balls hit to center field are true. The balls hit to the corner outfield spots have more topspin. They’re a little bit more difficult to read.

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But Marsh has experience. He’s played 593⅔ big-league innings and 246 minor league innings in left field. He and Figueroa aren’t too concerned.

“It was definitely a different position, for sure,” Marsh said. “You get different fly balls. Center field is a lot of true fly balls. And line drives. But you get a lot of left and right slices and fades in the corners.”

“We’re going to practice reads off the bat, because the hits turn more,” Figueroa said. “Whereas center field when they hit the ball it’s more true, over here, they have those topspin hooks. For me, center field is actually the easiest outfield position. Because you don’t get those.

“In the corners, you get topspin or you get backspin. You don’t know what it is. Normally, center field is all backspin. You don’t really see a ball that’s going to hook. Positioning is the next thing. But we talk about that all the time. He’s fine.”

Marsh will get reps in both center field and left field throughout the end of the season. So will Cristian Pache, who, to this point, has been splitting playing time with Marsh at center field.

This would create some flexibility for the Phillies, who have had one of the worst corner outfields in baseball, based on defensive metrics. Kyle Schwarber has a career low -18 defensive runs saved (DRS) in left field this season and a career low -15 outs above average (OAA).

Whenever Bryce Harper moves to first base — and there is still no firm timeline on that — Schwarber could move into the designated hitter spot.

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“I’m excited,” Marsh said. “I just think it helps, just with all of the defensive substitutions late in games. If Pache starts, he gets to stay in center and finish off his game. And I can go in for Schwarber in left or [Nick Castellanos] in right, whatever the situation. I’m excited to get some more hook line drives in left. I’m excited.

“Pache brings so much to the table with his athleticism and his IQ out there as a defender. So, I feel like if you have guys like him and myself, it’s a pretty fun outfield.”

“Que lo que papi. Mi hermano. Stay loose. Stay loose.”

Thomson said he would be open to using Marsh in left field whenever he’s comfortable. This could be either as a starter or as a late game defensive substitution. It’s safe to say that Figueroa is excited about that having two plus-defenders in the outfield.

“I got two center fielders playing out there,” he said. “We have all these center fielders — it’s nice. To have two center fielders out there is nice.”

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