Jun 6, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh (16) can not catch a ball hit for a single by Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo (not pictured) during the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
PITTSBURGH - The bunt from Isiah Kiner-Falefa went maybe 30 feet. It was absolutely going foul, until some cruel force of nature made the ball, at the last minute, make a sharp right turn, and stay fair.
Jordan Romano picked up the ball, disgusted with his luck.
MUST SEE: This bunt was WILD 👀 pic.twitter.com/5DEENPDFus
"I've never had a bunt like that," Romano said.
Two batters later, the Phillies lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4, with the game-winning run scoring on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales.
But neither the bunt, nor the sacrifice fly would have ever happened had Brandon Marsh caught a shallow fly ball in centerfield.
I understand Jordan Romano has struggled. That inning started with a 67-mph bloop, a routine popup that Brandon Marsh botched and the greatest bunt of all time. Kinda hard to work around that.
Instead, Marsh got a late jump on the ball, tried to make a sliding catch, and ended up missing it.
"He got a little bit of a late break on it, yeah," manager Rob Thomson said. "When you're in that situation, you're really fearful of the ball going over your head, but he did get a late break on it."
The ball came off of Jared Triolo's bat at 74.8 MPH, and the expected batting average was .410, meaning it wasn't an automatic that an outfielder should make the catch, but, there was a better than average expectation that Marsh, or the average centerfielder makes the play.
He didn't.
It's becoming a chronic condition for the Phillies.
I feel like on every shallow pop fly to the outfield against the Phillies we should have the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song cued up and ready go.
Earlier in the game, Adam Frazier hit a pop up into shallow right field. Nick Castellanos called off Bryson Stott - only he never got to the ball and his sliding effort also failed, resulting in a double.
That run didn't come around to score, but in the first inning one did on another could-have-been-but-wasn't play by a Phillies outfielder.
Gonzales hit a ball to deep right center. Johan Rojas, who started the game in centerfield, had a long run to catch the ball. This one was even tougher than Marsh's in the ninth (expected batting average of .580).
But we've been told countless times that Rojas is an elite defender in centerfield. He got to the spot where the ball was hit. He got his glove on it, but he couldn't haul it in before crashing to the ground.
Gonzales ended up with a triple. He would score on a single.
It's little plays like this that are mounting in a negative way for the Phillies.
Jordan Romano, cursing his luck one batter after a misplay in centerfield by Brandon Marsh in the Phillies 5-4 loss in Pittsburgh on Friday. (Credit: Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)
Forced to go with a bullpen game on Friday with Zack Wheeler missing on paternity leave, the Phillies tried to piecemeal a game together, and all things considered, had plenty of chances to win.
Despite giving up a two run homer two batters into his big league career, Alan Rangel settled down and gave the Phillies three good innings as the bulk reliever in his major league debut.
Joe Ross and Tanner Banks each allowed a run before him. Orion Kerkering pitched out of a jam preventing any Pirates from scoring in the seventh. Matt Strahm whiffed all three Buccos he faced in the bottom of the eighth.
And then Romano got the ninth and was really a hard luck loser. He gave up a duck fart single, then the single by Triolo that Marsh should have had, and then the crazy bunt single from Kiner-Falefa.
He struck out O'Neil Cruz, but then Gonzales hit the sac fly to end it.
Compounding things, the Phillies did next to nothing offensively after the fourth inning. After taking a 4-2 lead in the fourth, over the next five innings, the Phillies had a double by Castellanos and a walk by Weston Wilson. The other 15 batters made outs - seven via strikeouts.
And that lack of offense should also be a concern - the Phillies have a lot of them right now - never mind the fact that they played the game without Bryce Harper, who was scratched from the lineup with a sore wrist.
But even with the sluggish offense, and a game where they had to rely on six relievers and a guy who spent 10 years in the minors before being recalled before the game to pitch three innings, the glaring reason for losing was once again shaky defense.
At some point, the Phillies may have to pull a plug here. They can't keep trotting out the Marsh/Rojas combination at the same time as the Max Kepler/Wilson combination and think they can survive it long-term.
Phillies need to get serious about centerfield.
It’s reaching a point where you’re not doing right by the other 24 guys in the clubhouse by trotting out that mix.
Legitmately embarrassing for a team that fancies itself a contender.
Enough is enough.
Marsh can hit righties a little bit, but is an automatic out against lefties and he does not play centerfield well. He's a very good corner outfielder defensively, but he doesn't fit there now with Castellanos being a full-time right fielder and Kepler being the lefty platooning in left. Marsh and Kepler are a bit redundant.
As for Rojas, he's better defensively in center than Marsh (although maddeningly not as good as one would think he should be) but he is as light-hitting a player as they come.
Thomson tries to matchup as best he can with them - giving them the start against pitchers whom they have a better chance of succeeding, and then making the switch later in the game, depending on the situation.
But it seems to be backfiring more and more this season.
He turned to Marsh and Kepler in the ninth inning against Pittsburgh righty David Bednar. Marsh struck out looking, Kepler struck out swinging.
Then there was Marsh's blunder in the ninth.
"It just seems like a little bit of everything," said Trea Turner, who was the one Phillie who had a good offensive game, with three hits and two RBIs. "It feels like we can do everything a little bit better and we really got to find ways to win - whatever that is. (Whether it's) moving guys, hitting them in, finding a little better defense - you know, getting an out here and there - I think we can all contribute a little bit more."
And when the team is stuck in that kind of malaise, what's Thomson supposed to do? These are the dice he has to roll and they keep coming up snake eyes.
And as the great Broadway lyricist Frank Loesser wrote in the song Luck be a Lady, the dice, at times, have a very unladylike way of running out.
If he had only seen the 2025 Phillies defensively, those lyrics may have been even harsher.
