Aug 7, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) laughs with Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) as they wait for a replay in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Every Tuesday, On Pattison's Tim Kelly and Anthony SanFilippo will answer your questions from social media pertaining to the Phillies. Let's get to it.
@Dalvin4MVP on X: How much leash will they give Brandon Marsh to hit lefties?
Tim Kelly: I think the Phillies would be wise to give Marsh a bit of runway the first six or so weeks of the season to face lefties. Either he'll sink or swim, and you'll have your answer once and for all.
Marsh hit .229 with a .717 OPS in 110 plate appearances against lefties in 2023, which isn't great, but also suggested he was progressing. But then he hit .192 with a .552 OPS against southpaws last year, striking out 33 times in 90 plate appearances. He was unplayable against lefties last year.
The question is whether with an extended look against lefties if Marsh will get comfortable and start to hit them consistently. He's got a .582 career OPS against lefties, so it's fair to be skeptical. But as he gets deeper into his arbitration years, it will help to have a full picture of him.
My guess is Marsh is a platoon player, which is fine considering a majority of opposing starting pitchers are righties. But giving him an opportunity to prove that prediction wrong early in 2025 wouldn't be a terrible strategy.
Brandon Marsh is #6 on MLB Network’s Top 10 Center Fielders in MLB right now.
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Anthony SanFilippo: It's easy to understand the frustration with Marsh, but the reality is, on one side of a platoon — the more regular side — he's pretty darn productive.
So, why not give him a chance to prove it against lefties as well? Max Kepler told us in an interview that it's all about opportunity. He said even though he's had success against righties, if all of the sudden a manager decided to not play him against righties with regularity, when the sporadic times did arise for him to face one, he likely wouldn't hit them. It makes sense.
Still, that shouldn't mean Marsh should have carte blanche against lefties either. Give him some time, sure, but if it's not working its not working, you pivot. Tim said six weeks. That's a good start, but you probably give him a little longer. Teams start identifying their mid-season needs about six weeks before the trade deadline. So, give Marsh until mid June. If he's still a below .600 OPS guy against lefties and striking out 40% of the time, then yeah, he's a platoon guy. But, if he shows marked improvement, then that's a boon for the franchise.
@NorthernWill4 on X: If they prioritized flexibility over the best 26, how could they break camp to keep as many guys who are out of options in the organization?
Tim Kelly: I'm going to release my first 26-man roster projection later this week, so I don't want to give everything away.
But, this actually goes hand-in-hand with my idea of getting Marsh consistent at-bats against lefties early in 2025. If the focus is getting Marsh and Max Kepler at-bats against lefties, then I think there's an argument for having Johan Rojas open up the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. You would then be able to carry Weston Wilson — who mashed lefties last year — and Kody Clemens both on your MLB bench.
Perhaps without Rojas the Phillies would feel too thin in center field, but that's kind of the point. If you don't have another option to start over Marsh in center field, then he's going to get at-bats against opposing left-handers.
KODY CLEMENS ARE YOU JOKING pic.twitter.com/S8Cuhm4TLa
Anthony SanFilippo: I'm going to agree with Tim here. That's the best way to get the top bats on your roster. Sure, center field defense becomes shaky, but we know Kepler can play out there — probably as well as Marsh, if we're being honest — and Wilson has gone out there in a pinch before.
Sure, the situation is not ideal, but it guarantees you having a lefty bat on the bench in Clemens, and gets more time in the field for Wilson, whose bat plays, especially against lefties. It gives you a little more versatility off the bench rather than having a defensive replacement/pinch runner as your fifth outfielder.
Back when teams carried fewer pitchers, that was a luxury teams could afford. Now, with there being only four position players on your bench, and one of them is your backup catcher, it's not as conducive to having that profile take up one of the other three spots.
@Mike.Ryan.2 on Threads: What’s the @mlb going to do? The Dodgers could be “injury riddled” and lose 3 to 4 star players and still have the best team. I feel like losing to the Dodgers in a playoff series would be considered a “successful” season. Am I just annoyed and giving the Phillies no chance when in reality there is?
@Spudgy3000 on Bluesky: Maybe more of a MLB question, but how can we not already feel like 3rd place finishers with the signings the Dodgers have managed? It feels like they're playing a video game over there. It's disheartening. Would love some optimistic takes!
Tim Kelly: I'm torn on this because if you're an ownership group capable of spending like the Dodgers, more power to you. It's also not like the Phillies are struggling financially, as they're certain to have a top-five payroll to open 2025.
Phillies set to have one of MLB's largest year-over-year payroll increases in 2025 @OnPattison https://t.co/5cfzBtwOnU
Are teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins capable of spending at the same level as the Dodgers? No. But it's hard to have much sympathy for someone like Bob Nutting — the owner of the Pirates — when they are currently slated to have a $64 million payroll next season. They have one of the great young stars in the game in Paul Skenes and have punted on the offseason. There's a gap in the financial capabilities of these teams, but it's certainly not as drastic as some of the cheapest owners in the sport have made it seem like.
A salary floor would be great, but owners aren't going to go for that unless there's a salary cap. And a cap would — and should — be a non-starter for the MLB Players Association.
I do think fans would almost all agree that the loophole the Dodgers are currently exploiting — where you defer money into the future and it lowers the annual amount a player counts towards the luxury tax threshold — should be closed. You can defer money into the future, but the full amount should count towards the luxury tax threshold in the present. Whether owners and the MLBPA feel as strongly about that is unclear.
Truthfully, I don't think there's a good answer here. I think we're headed for the owners locking out the players again after the 2026 season, but there's not a realistic place to meet in the middle for the two sides. Further complicating things is I don't think all 30 owners necessarily have the same goals currently either.
Anthony SanFilippo: To me, the answer here is simple. The only way to stop the Dodgers is to beat them — and not just on the field, but off it. In player development. In savvy roster construction. In how you treat your players. In what guarantees you make them — aside from dollars.
Yeah, the Dodgers are the defending champs and loaded up even more, but that never guarantees a championship. Does it put them in the conversation every year? Sure. But the Phillies are now entering a fourth straight season of being in that same conversation, too.
The Yankees are forever a part of that conversation, but they haven't won a title in 16 years and just one in the last 22 years.
The only thing loading up on all that talent really buys you is the ability to overcome the challenges of the grind of a 162-game season. Players get hurt. Players get old fast. Players have off years. Having more bullets to fire is always a good thing. So yes, the Dodgers will be in the mix to defend their title, but a short stroll down memory lane proves that not every team who spends the most or wins the offseason is hoisting the trophy the first week of November.
@OscarBudejen on X: What is the next step for Taijuan Walker?
Tim Kelly: The next step is for him to come to Spring Training and try to show that he has something left in his arm after doing a weighted ball program for the offseason.
If Walker looks good, the Phillies could keep him in the bullpen to open the season, although having both him and Joe Ross in the bullpen would be a little redundant.
With Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo in the starting rotation, Andrew Painter looming and Ross signed as a swing man, I'm not sure what the path forward with the Phillies is for Walker if he looks good in camp.
With that said, nothing we saw a year ago leads you to believe Walker will pitch well in Spring Training. I've thought this before and been wrong, but I think there's a decent chance Walker has made his last appearance for the Phillies. They may just end up having to eat the $36 million he's owed over the next two seasons.
Anthony SanFilippo: I like Taijuan. Good dude. Always willing to talk and understands why he's such an inflection point for the fans. But at the same time, that, and a hefty contract, shouldn't be a reason to break camp with the Phillies.
So you bring him to Spring Training, hope he looks good after the offseason workout program, and a pitching-needy team comes to you and tells you they are willing to take him off your hands if you eat part of the contract.
You say yes, thank you very much, we owe you one, and send Walker off to another pasture.
If that doesn't happen, you consider his contract a sunk cost, and eat it.
If you place him on waivers and he goes unclaimed and he's willing to take a minor league assignment, and he's an emergency option during the season because of a slew of injuries, fine. Short of that, as William Shakespeare once wrote, parting ways is such sweet sorrow.
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