PHILADELPHIA — Perhaps injuries can be a good thing. For obvious example, we reintroduce Brandon Marsh.
The Phillies’ now former starting center fielder was back in action Saturday night for the first time since April 16, when he hurt his right hamstring. At the time, Marsh hadn’t had a hit in his previous 31 official at-bats. Overall, his batting average had fallen to .095.
But after pain in his hamstring subsided, Marsh went to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for a re-set, though he wouldn’t have termed it that way.
“I was down there having fun, making sure the hamstring was good,” the fun-loving Marsh said. “But yeah, we’re all good. I’m just excited to play baseball again.”
Either way, the two-faceted trip to the minors apparently did him some good.
Marsh’s hamstring got healthy – although after a few rehab outings, he did have cramping there which entailed some big-leaguke treatment – and his swing did, too. Through six total rehab games with the IronPigs, Marsh clocked a slash line of .300/.400/.450 in 25 plate appearances, with six hits, including a home run, and six RBIs.
Flash forward to the second inning Saturday night, and Marsh came to the plate with two runs in, two more runners on and no outs. He was carrying that official oh-for-31 piece of history with him, too.
But Marsh promptly turned on a Brandon Pfaadt pfaastball and lined it down the right-field line for an RBI double. In his next at-bat, the Phillies enjoying a 6-0 lead after a J.T. Realmuto three-run homer, Marsh literally drilled a pitch off Pfaadt. Luckily for him, it pinballed over to second baseman Ketel Marte for a ground out.
Clearly, however, this didn’t look like the same Brandon Marsh who in early April couldn’t find himself at the plate. Prior to Saturday’s game, it seemed evident that he’d found something in the Lehigh Valley.
“It feels awesome, seeing these guys and being back in the locker room,” Marsh said. “It’s been great. Really, it’s just getting healthy. It was a good week … a good week.”
Marsh even got to see the lovely sights of Rochester, N.Y. while accompanying the IronPigs there Friday night.
“It was a good time in Rochester,” Marsh said. “The boys are playing really well down there and the vibes are up, so it was a lot of fun.”
Despite the good vibes from this return engagement for Marsh, his playing time going forward might be a matter of speculation. Asked whether he’d likely pursue a return to Marsh playing against right-handed pitchers and Johan Rojas seeing time against leftys, manager Rob Thomson demurred.
“Not necessarily,” Thomson said. “Rojas is just playing so well. So we’ll pick and choose, see where we’re at on a daily basis.”
• • •
Trea Turner has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games. He singled and doubled as the Phillies built an early, seven-run lead on Arizona Saturday night.
In the process, Turner’s batting average had soared from .250 after a loss to the Mets on April 22, to .308 after his second hit of the night against the Diamondbacks. Before the game, Thomson said a lot of the credit for Turner’s impressive start had to do with his going along with a suggestion the manager had made.
“At the start of the season, Trey and I had a talk. I said, ‘I don’t care about home runs, we have plenty of guys that can do that,’” Thomson said. “I said, ‘I want you to get on base; .380 (on-base percentage) is the goal. I want you to steal a base; I want you to get 40. I want you to score 100 runs.’ If he does that, I don’t care about anything else.”
After Turner’s double in the fifth inning Saturday night, he stood at 35 hits on the season. Only seven went for extra bases.
• • •
NOTES >> Don’t get the idea that Brandon Marsh will be rooting against Rojas in their competition for playing time in center. The two were sitting next to each other in the clubhouse Saturday when Marsh started talking about his return. And then he got on the subject of his friend. “Rojas is incredible,” he said, “and I’m not just saying this because he’s sitting next to me. Rojas is a phenomenal outfielder.”
Source: Berkshire mont