There was a time, not too long ago, when Brandon Marsh looked completely lost. Forty-one strikeouts in 102 plate appearances, and a whole lot of other types of outs, between July 12 and Aug. 22 brought his numbers on the season — once reflective of a breakout — down to a meager .238/.314/.400. He wasn’t hitting lefties. He wasn’t hitting righties.
But much as the Phillies have pulled themselves out of their second-half slog in the last couple weeks, so has Marsh. He had three more hits (including a double) on Wednesday in the Phillies’ 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Since Aug. 23, he’s hitting .378 with a 1.138 OPS.
It’s not as though Marsh has completely done away with the strikeout bug. Even while he was heating up, he’d struck out 10 times in 29 plate appearances before the last four games. But he’s struck out just once in the last four games, drawing four walks in the process.
The upswing is coming at the right time. With 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Phillies still have to figure out exactly what outfield combination suits them best for October. His spot in the lineup, at least for now, seems to be entrenched against righties.
That felt like a given two months ago because Marsh was one of the Phillies’ best hitters of the first half. It’s been iffy since then, especially with the club trading for Austin Hays with the mindset that he’s not totally unplayable against righties — and still wanting to let him sink or swim against them.
So Marsh, who can be a streaky hitter, is running into one of the good streaks at a good time. He went 2-for-4 with a double on Aug. 23 in Kansas City on the heels of a 5-for-39 stretch. The Phillies haven’t lost a series since.
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