It’s been an abysmal start to the season for Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh, and now he’s on the injured list with a very mild strained hamstring. However, this setback might be a blessing in disguise.
The injury occurred during an April 16 game against the San Francisco Giants when Marsh had to contort his body to lunge at a ball that took an awkward hop in center field.
“As mild as it can be,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb about Marsh’s hamstring issue.
The IL stint comes as Marsh endures the worst start of his career. He has only four hits this season, batting a meager .095 with 16 strikeouts, a .387 OPS and an OPS+ of just 12 — meaning Marsh is 88% worse than the league average hitter. He’s gone hitless in his last 31 at-bats.
As Gelb points out, the Phillies are using this “as a way to reset their starting center fielder’s season.”
“The club placed Marsh on the injured list Sunday morning, backdating it to April 17. Marsh can be activated as early as April 27,” reports Gelb. “But the Phillies plan to send him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for some at-bats as he confronts the worst slump of his career.”
Marsh entered the season as the Phillies’ primary center fielder, despite his struggles against left-handed pitching, hitting just .192 against southpaws in 2024.
With Marsh sidelined, Johan Rojas will step in as the starting center fielder. The Phillies have called up Cal Stevenson to fill Marsh’s roster spot.
