Brandon

Marsh

While no specific injury was noted during the season, Gelb says that Marsh played through the nagging injury for months, which could have played a role in his offensive struggles during the second half. It’s something that fantasy managers should take note of, as it could lead to a nice buying opportunity if the market is down on him heading into 2027.

Sosa was removed from Wednesday’s game due to a groin injury that he aggravated while hustling out an infield single. He’ll start at third base and bat seventh for the Phillies on Thursday evening. Bryan De La Cruz will start in left field in place of Brandon Marsh. Here’s the full lineup that the Phillies will use against Braves’ opener Ray Kerr to start Thursday’s game: Trea Turner (SS), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Bryce Harper (RF), Alec Bohm (1B), Bryson Stott (2B), Bryan De La Cruz (LF), Edmundo Sosa (3B), J.T. Realmuto (C) and Justin Crawford (CF).

Marsh sat out Game 1 with the Braves throwing left-hander Chris Sale, but he’ll be back in against Tyler Mahle. Marsh hit a career-high 18 home runs this season while stealing 11 bases and posting a .260/.304/.408 slash line.

With Luis Arraez sidelined with an ankle injury, Sosa will enter the lineup at third base, and Bryson Stott will shift back to second base. The team will leave Alec Bohm at first base and Bryce Harper in right field. With Chris Sale on the mound, it will be Bryan De La Cruz in left field and Brandon Marsh heading to the bench.

A rare sign of life from Marsh, who had driven in just one run all month. He hadn’t had a two-hit game since Aug. 21 or homered since Aug. 13. The three-RBI game was his first since way back on June 25. Still, he did overtake his previous career high in RBI by getting up to 61 tonight.

Marsh will take a seat with left-hander Zac Thornton toeing the slab for the Mets. It’s the third time in the last seven games that the 28-year-old outfielder has found himself left out of the Phillies’ starting nine. That may have something to do with the fact that he’s slashing an anemic .182/.240/.242 with just two homers and 12 RBI in 181 plate appearances since the All-Star break. Edmundo Sosa will start in his place in left field and bat sixth for the Phillies on Friday night.

Since taking part in his first All-Star Game, Marsh has hit .195/.265/.263 in 40 games, dropping his OPS from .829 to .744. He’s still a solid enough player who will probably rebound to post decent numbers in September, but for those who thought he took step forward at age 28... nope.

Marsh led off the fourth inning with a walk, swiped second base and rode home on Kyle Schwarber’s second home run of the evening. The 28-year-old outfielder then did some yardwork of his own with a 365-foot two-run blast off of Travis Adams in the seventh inning that capped off the scoring in the game. He’s having a strong season at the dish, slashing .276/.320/.443 with 17 homers, 54 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

After spending May and June contending for the MLB lead in batting average, Marsh has gone 7-for-55 with one extra-base hit and one RBI in his last 15 games to fall to .290 for the year. The correction figured to come at some point, and he’ll surely bounce back. Still, it’s debatable whether he should really be starting against lefties, and the Phillies might want to add more than one outfielder at the deadline.

Marsh heads to the bench with lefty Andrew Abbott toeing the rubber for Cincinnati. The 28-year-old corner outfielder has delivered a remarkable first-half, hitting .305/.339/.505 with 15 homers, 46 RBI and eight steals in 342 plate appearances across 86 games. It’ll be speedster Derek Hill getting a shot in right field to open this contest.