Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson has a ton of praise for outfielder Brandon Marsh ahead of the 2025 MLB season.
Marsh has been with the Phillies since 2022 and has been a key player. However, he hasn’t been a true everyday player, but Thomson is hoping that is the case this season as he says he has superstar potential.
“I hope (Marsh) realizes how great of an athlete he is and how great of a player and potential superstar he could be,” Thomson said on WIP Morning Show on March 6. “If he thinks that way, he’s got a better chance of getting there.”
Thomson says Marsh has been hitting left-handed pitching better in spring training, which boosts his chances of being an everyday player.
“He’s seeing a lot of left-handed pitching here in spring training, and he’s doing a pretty good job,” Thomson added. “I’d like to give him a pretty good run at playing every day if we can. But he’s such a great athlete.”
Marsh is expected to be the Phillies’ starting center fielder. He hit .249 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs in 2024 with Philadelphia.
Thomson Compares Marsh to Kyle Schwarber
Marsh struggled against left-handed pitchers last season as he hit .192 with 8 home runs and 8 RBIs in 90 at-bats.
Thomson believes Marsh has made some adjustments to his approach and swing which has helped him against left-handers. The manager compares him to Kyle Schwarber’s approach at the plate.
“He took the Kyle Schwarber approach last year,” Thomson said. “Think about left-center field, stay low to left and if you’re going to pull the ball, get high in right field and hit some home runs.”
If Marsh can be an effective hitter against left-handers, it would be a big boost to the Phillies’ lineup and make them that much more of a contender.
Marsh has three more years of control including the 2025 season.
Phillies GM Says Patience is Wearing Thin
Philadelphia general manager Dave Dombrowski says he understands patience wears thin but is confident with his group.
The Phillies have been one of the best teams in the MLB, but Philadelphia has fallen short of expectations.
“Patience wears thin,” Dombrowski said on 94WIP Morning Show live in Clearwater. “In 2022, people were thrilled we were in the playoffs. In ’23, to this day I mean it will be one of the more devastating playoff losses I’ve ever been around losing to Arizona being up 3 games to 2. Last year, I don’t think we played very well coming into the postseason and the Mets played better than we did. And I don’t think yelling and screaming in baseball does much good… Nobody is happy. Internally, we’re not happy.”
As Dombrowski says, internally Philadelphia is not happy with how their seasons have ended and the goal for 2025 is a World Series.
However, the Phillies also didn’t make any major moves this offseason, which did surprise Dombrowski.
“I guess I would say surprised to an extent, because I think that when you’re talking about being open-minded – which is how we presented it, and that’s how we really felt about it – and when you have good players and you’re open minded to it, it normally makes something happen,” Dombrowski said. “Usually something happens in our situation. We were open-minded. We listened to what people had to say. But, we were in a position where the moves just didn’t make sense to make us a better ball club.”
The Phillies open their season on March 27 on the road against the Washington Nationals.
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Phillies Manager Reveals Player he Sees ‘Superstar’ Potential in