Rafael

Marchán

Crawford is the favorite to start in center field for the Phillies on Opening Day. He’ll need a strong performance in Grapefruit League action to lock up the spot but he doesn’t have a ton of competition. The 22-year-old former first-round pick batted .334/.411/.452 with seven homers and 46 steals in 112 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this past season. He’ll make a fantasy impact in the stolen base department, but counting on anything beyond that in his first taste of the majors might be too optimistic, especially since he’s likely to bat at the bottom of the order. Here is the full lineup: Crawford (CF), Adolis García (RF), Edmundo Sosa (SS), Otto Kemp (LF), Bryan De La Cruz (DH), Rafael Marchán (C), Dylan Moore (2B), Christian Cairo (3B) and Keaton Anthony (1B).

It’s a split contract for Marchán, who will serve as organizational depth for the Phillies with J.T. Realmuto hitting free agency this offseason. The 26-year-old backstop got into a career-high 42 games this past season, batting .210/.282/.305 with two homers and 13 RBI.

Realmuto left Tuesday’s game with a index finger contusion and it’s no surprise that the backstop will take a break from Wednesday’s action. The 34-year-old will sit with Rafael Marchan handling catching duties.

Marchán had the Phillies first hit of the game in the sixth inning and scored the first run on a double by Bryce Harper. He later delivered a go-ahead, three-run blast off Blake Treinen in the ninth that would power the Phillies to victory. The 26-year-old backstop has hit two homers with 13 RBI while hitting .206/.284/.309 across 110 plate appearances.

It’s nothing more than a routine day of rest for the 34-year-old backstop after starting each of the team’s first four games of the week. Rafael Marchan will start in his place behind the dish and will bat ninth against Bryce Elder and the Braves.

Marchán, who has spent the whole season backing up J.T. Realmuto, had three RBI in a 3-1 win today, had three RBI in a 5-4 defeat of the Braves on May 29 and has three RBI in the rest of his appearances combined. He’s batting .183/.280/.256 in 33 games.

It’s nothing more than a routine night off for the 34-year-old backstop. Rafael Marchan will start in his place behind the dish and will bat ninth for the Phillies against Brady Singer and the Reds on Tuesday evening in Cincinnati.

It’s just a routine day off for the veteran, who is hitting .288 in 18 games in June with 11 runs scored, six RBI and one steal. Realmuto is likely to finish with around 10 home runs and 10 steals on the season, so he no longer packs the punch that he used to in fantasy leagues, but his prominent role on a good team keeps him in the mix in two-catcher leagues. Rafael Marchan will start in his place.

The last RBi for Marchan came after he was plunked in the foot with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, and it gave Philadelphia their 5-4 lead and ultimately a win. The 26-year-old also swatted a two-run homer — his first of 2025 — and he threw out Ozzie Albies in the ninth inning after Albies attempted to steal second. A very nice day for Marchan to be sure, but he’s still slashing an ugly .152/.317/.242 as J.T. Realmuto’s backup backstop.

He doubled his hit total this season from two to four, but his baserunning left much to be desired. Marchán misjudged Bryson Stott’s liner to center in the third and was easily doubled off first after the ball was caught by Victor Scott II. He was later initially called out at second trying to take an extra base on his single in the seventh, but that call was fortunately overturned when replay showed he got his hand in under the tag.