Brandon

Marsh

The Phillies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Marsh’s three-run blast. Then, they didn’t put another run on the board and Marsh struck out in his following three at-bats. Alas, with the struggles of Alec Bohm and lack of depth in the Phillies’ lineup, this was Marsh’s first start of the season hitting fourth in their order. It could give him more run-scoring opportunities if they leave him there against right-handed pitching.

Bohm had Tuesday off for groin tightness in San Francisco, but otherwise has batted cleanup in every appearance this season. The Phillies were shut out during their last two games in the Bay Area and Bohm is hitting just .186/.271/.279 on the season. Being lowered in the lineup would not help his fantasy value, so hopefully this is just a blip. Brandon Marsh is instead hitting cleanup for the Phillies today.

Bryson Stott was all kinds of hot this spring and Marsh wasn’t at all, so it made sense to have those two swap lineup spots initially, with Stott moving up to fifth and Marsh sliding down to seventh. However, since the games began to count, Stott has a .586 OPS and Marsh is at .890. Marsh is still batting seventh for now, but it seems like it might be time to go back to the original plan.

With the Nationals pitching left-hander Foster Griffin, Stott will head to the bench with Edumundo Sosa starting at second base and batting sixth. Stott also sat against a lefty on Sunday, so it’s clear that he will not get many appearances against southpaws this season, which will hurt his value in fantasy leagues with weekly lineup locks. The rest of the Phillies’ lineup is similar to what they showed against a lefty on Sunday, but J.T. Realmuto will get a day off and Brandon Marsh will be back in the lineup with Justin Crawford heading to the bench.

Marsh missed a week at the beginning of the spring with a hand injury sustained while sliding, and one can’t help but wonder if it still might be a problem. He’s 3-for-27 with no extra-base hits since returning two weeks ago.

Marsh gets a $2.2 million raise in his second year of arbitration. The 28-year-old hit .280/.342/.443 in 133 games last season, but he again struggled in his limited opportunities against lefties. He doesn’t offer much mixed-league value as a platoon player hitting in the bottom half of the Phillies lineup.

Turner returns as Philadelphia’s top-of-the-order table-setter to kick off the postseason after missing a significant portion of September recovering from a hamstring strain. The 32-year-old power/speed combo fantasy star played five innings during last Sunday’s regular-season finale. Here’s the full lineup that will square off against Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani in his first career postseason start at Citizens Bank Park: Turner (SS), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Bryce Harper (1B), Alec Bohm (3B), Brandon Marsh (LF), J.T. Realmuto (C), Max Kepler (RF), Harrison Bader (CF) and Bryson Stott (2B).

Marsh came through for the Phillies in a big spot on Tuesday. After the Phillies were held without a hit through five frames, the team put two runs on the board on four hits before Marsh gave them the lead with a three-run blast off Justin Wrobleski. The 27-year-old outfielder is up to 11 homers, 56 runs scored, and 42 RBI while slashing .281/.342/.449 across 399 plate appearances.

An apparent reward for opening the month 13-for-24. It’s Marsh’s first start against a lefty since Harrison Bader was acquired and just his eighth of the season. He’s being picked over Bryson Stott, with Weston Wilson playing second base rather than left field.

Marsh missed the previous two games with illness, but the 27-year-old is ready to roll against the Clay Holmes and the Mets’ bullpen.