To paraphrase Winston Churchill, one of the worries regarding the Philadelphia Phillies 2024 roster is the outfield issue, which is still a mystery inside a mystery. The outfield poses a special challenge for the Phillies, a club full of established and rising players with a dash of superstardom.
If a team hopes to make it back to the World Series in 2024, having two of the three berths up in the air could prove to be a fatal weakness.
The squad has designated the right field, where Nick Castellanos will be placed despite his subpar defensive statistics. To make up for the poor glove, the front office and coaching staff will simply need to hope that his 2024 batting season is more like his 2023 season than his 2022 campaign.
Centre field is the main area of concern.
Throughout the second half of 2023, Johan Rojas and his defensive prowess stole the stage in centre field for 59 games. His bat stayed up, putting up a.302 batting average and a.771 OPS, both over the league average, which was sufficient for manager Rob Thomson to nearly always have him in the starting lineup.
However, because the young player at the plate faltered during the postseason, fans and the media have been discussing the 2024 outfield throughout the winter. It is unclear if Rojas’ bat is MLB-ready for a full-season grind after his absurd.410 BABIP in the regular season collapsed to a.143 mark in the postseason.
Additionally, left field is uncertain. The Phillies will need a player to take command of left field in spring training after a motley crew of Brandon Marsh, Cristian Pache, and Jake Cave saw action there in the second part of the previous season. However, Rojas’s performance in Florida will determine the left field scenario in its entirety, as it will determine whether or not he relieves the club of at least one decision.
For just two locations, that’s a lot of moving pieces.
Rob Thomson presents his overview of the outfield strategy.
Thomson provided clarification on the Phillies’ plans for left field and centre field given the current roster during an interview on the Mike Missanelli Podcast earlier this month. The captain of the Phillies wishes Rojas well since it would certainly make Thomson’s job a lot simpler.
“Everything hinges on Rojas,” stated Thomson. And because Rojas definitely alters the game defensively, I’m hopeful he has a fantastic spring and earns that role. He must earn that position; we haven’t given it to him.”
What occurs if he is not hired after spring training? Thomson claims that their backup plan is to give Marsh the keys.
“If it looks like he’s [Rojas] struggling, then he needs more bats [in Triple-A], and then Marsh would move over in centre field,” Thomson stated. “And we still have Cave and Pache for left, so I think we’re set up really well.”
Therefore, on Opening Day, Rojas might be at Triple-A with the IronPigs, with Marsh in the centre and Pache and Cave sharing the left side of the infield.
However, Marsh will be the starting left fielder if Rojas performs well in the spring and wins the centre field position to start the season. The Phillies outfield is in a risky situation either way. They’ll be counting on Marsh, who mostly faced right-handers in his previous season, to hit lefties and on a still-developing Rojas to play for the duration of the major league season.
The Phillies’ strategy depends on Marsh hitting lefties.
With 308 at-bats versus right-handed pitchers in 2023, 26-year-old Marsh batted a solid.292, with an OPS of.864 and a wRC+ of 134. He batted.229 against the Southpaws in 96 at-bats, with an OPS of.717 and a 96 wRC+. While not exceptional, it is at least an improvement over his 2022 batting average of.188 against left-handers.
The Phillies running Marsh out there every day, in centre field or left, doesn’t worry Thomson in the slightest.
“I believe that Marsh will have the ability to hit left-handed pitchers. He did on occasion throughout the previous season,” according to Thomson. “On certain days, you’ll need to give him a day off to help him get off the ground, but you might also face a really formidable lefty. However, Marshy has a really good game, and I believe he can hit left-handers.”
To his credit, in 77 at-bats during his rookie season with the Angels, Marsh did compile a batting average of.260 against lefties. Sadly, that was the high point of his debut, as he recorded a.560 OPS and 54 wRC+. It is reasonable to assume that Marsh and hitting coach Kevin Long are working on some wrinkles during the offseason in order to make Marsh the regular hitter the Phillies need.
If the Phillies’ current outfield roster is the same as it was on Opening Day, then that is the current plan. Supporters may be concerned about the stability of the players and the plan’s strength, which appears to be hanging precariously, and believe that the front office has to find a regular improvement.
However, Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, gives the impression that this won’t occur. Dombrowski stated to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com back in December that they are not seeking an outfielder. And as of last week, Zolecki claimed the sentiment remained the same.
At the conclusion of 2023, Dombrowski informed Zolecki, “Not outfield.” “We said we’d keep an open mind when it came to outfield, but we also have [Johan] Rojas in a situation where we’re not really trying to stand in his way of reaching the major leagues.”
The Phillies are therefore remaining flexible. Alternatively put, Thomson says that even though he has total faith in his players, “if an outfielder falls in our lap, then we would act on it.”
Opening Day is still a long way off, so perhaps we should all have faith but be prepared for anything.
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