The Philadelphia Phillies are back on the winning track after a victory over the red-hot San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, fueled by a pair of homers from Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto. At 10-7 on the season, Philly sits one game behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East.
It's way too early to wholeheartedly panic about what's going on in Philadelphia. This is the best pitching staff in baseball when healthy and the offense, for all its warts, can heat up at a moment's notice. Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos — these are some of the most explosive bats in MLB.
That said, it's hard to watch the same faults undermine the same roster year, after year, after year. The Phillies' outfield is still a huge problem. Max Kepler was brought in to handle full-time left field duties. He's got a .711 OPS and two home runs; he has been painfully fine. Brandon Marsh, however, looks completely lost in centerfield.
He's a sharp defender, of course, but Marsh's offense is in the gutter. He's batting .100 with a .404 OPS, a whopping 4-for-40 at the plate this season. Rob Thomson vowed to give him a few games of "physical and mental" rest, but those plans were axed eight innings into a 10-4 loss on Monday. As it turns out, Johan Rojas can't hit either. Marsh was back in the starting lineup on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Ohio...
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
Austin Hays gives Phillies fans FOMO with tank in Reds season debut
The Phillies dealt for Austin Hays at the 2024 MLB trade deadline. His tenure was brief and largely uninspiring. He was the original Max Kepler — a sorta full-time left fielder meant to knock Johan Rojas out of an everyday outfield role. Hays hit .256 with a .672 OPS across 20 appearances for the Phils, dealing with a hamstring injury and a freak kidney infection in between. Strong Sixers vibes there.
Hays went to the Cincinnati Reds this winter after the Phillies decided to look elsewhere. It took him a few weeks to get on the field, but Hays' season debut on Tuesday was a memorable one. He smashed a three-run bomb off of Seattle Mariners ace Luis Castillo in the fifth inning. He finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. He is halfway to Marsh's 2025 hits total in a tenth of the at-bats.
— Philly Sports Sufferer (@mccrystal_alex) April 16, 2025
Phillies fans were generally happy to move on from Hays, just the latest example of Dave Dombrowski's cost-evading half-measures in the front office. Kepler is probably the better player on balance, but as a wise man once said... why not both? With how Marsh is playing, it feels like Philadelphia has a spot for Hays.
Hays was an All-Star not long ago, hitting 16 home runs with a .769 OPS for the Baltimore Orioles in 2023. He's a strong platoon option, at the very least. Marsh can't hit in a general sense, but he definitely can't hit lefties. Cincinnati inked Hays for just $5 million. That is an affordable contract, and one the Phillies may regret passing up.