Whit Merrifield in lineup Saturday as Phillies outfield rotation begins to take shape
Whit Merrifield will make his Philadelphia Phillies debut Saturday, starting in left field and hitting eighth with All-Star lefty Max Fried on the mound for the Atlanta Braves.
Merrifield knew when he signed with the Phillies back in February that he wasn’t guaranteed 500 at-bats. At the same time, the Phillies didn’t give the three-time All-Star $8 million to have him play once a week. And his clearest path to playing time for the Phillies this year might be getting at-bats in left field as the Phillies try to protect Brandon Marsh against difficult left-handed pitchers.
So does manager Rob Thomson envision Merrifield playing over Marsh in left field when a lefty is on the mound regularly?
“I wouldn’t say that as a rule,” Thomson said. “I think Whit’s gonna see some right-handers too. And Marsh will see some left-handers too. I mean, we’ve got three [left-handers] in a row here, so I don’t want to keep Marsh out of the lineup too long. So I would think he’s gonna play on Monday.”
As Thomson mentioned, Fried is the first of three consecutive left-handed pitchers the Phillies will face. Seven-time All-Star Chris Sale will make his Braves debut Sunday in the series finale. Lefty Andrew Abbott is slated to get the ball for the Cincinnati Reds Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
Thomson wasn’t yet sure if Marsh will play Sunday, but seemed to indicate he will be in Monday’s starting lineup. After all, Marsh provided the only non-garbage time offense for the Phillies in an Opening Day loss, hitting a two-run shot off of Spencer Strider that temporarily gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.
Merrifield is a natural second baseman, which may mean he occasionally spells Bryson Stott at second base. The first opportunity for Merrifield to play over Stott at second base could come Sunday, although Stott will likely be coming out of the lineup much less frequently than Marsh.
“He’s a guy,” Thomson said of Stott. “Now, is he going to play tomorrow against Sale? Well, we’ll see. So, it’s one of those.”
As far as Marsh, he was unplayable against left-handed pitching in 2022, posting a meager .486 OPS in 96 at-bats against southpaws between the Los Angeles Angels and Phillies. However, Marsh fared much better against left-handed pitching in his first full season, posting a .717 OPS in 96 at-bats. Granted, he’s still going to make his money against right-handed pitching, but one would think the Phillies would like to see if he can continue to improve against lefties over a larger sample size. But with so many strong options on the bench, that may not happen in 2024.
“That’s the thing, we’ve got options now,” Thomson said. “Especially with Whit, and [Cristian] Pache has swung the bat very well against lefties.
“You know, I think the game will tell you when it’s time that he just goes,” Thomson added on Marsh. “He has improved against lefties, and I think at some point he’s an everyday guy.”
Speaking of Pache, he earned the final bench spot over Jake Cave, who was traded to the Colorado Rockies. It’s easy to see what the Phillies like about Pache — he’s an 80-grade defender who is still only 25 and had some nice moments in 48 games for the Phillies a year ago. But with Nick Castellanos in right field, Johan Rojas in center field and the duo of Marsh and Merrifield likely to get most of the at-bats in left field, what will Pache’s role be on this team?
“Yeah, I think he’ll face lefties,” Thomson said of Pache. “And it’s not like Rojas is going to play every single day, but if he’s gonna be here, he’s gonna play most of the time. And so there are gonna be days when we want to give Rojas a day off. And it might be against a lefty even, and you play Whit in left and Pache in center.”
Thomson said there’s a “pretty good shot” Pache will be in Sunday’s lineup, although it’s not yet clear if that will be in center or left field.
Don’t, however, expect to see Pache come in as a late-game defensive replacement for Castellanos in right field. Even if Castellanos has improved in the field, he still had -9 defensive runs saved and -7 outs above average in 2023. Pache’s experience in right field is limited, but he has nine career defensive runs saved and 12 outs above average in the outfield, so there’s definitely an on-paper argument for putting him in right field late in games over Castellanos.
In real life, though, Thomson doesn’t like to make that change. Whether it’s because you lose Castellanos’ bat in the lineup if the game goes to extra innings or not wanting to rub a veteran who has worked very hard to improve defensively the wrong way, Pache isn’t going to being coming in to replace Castellanos in right field very often.
Particularly if Rojas remains at the MLB level for the entirety of the 2024 season, how Thomson finds a way to involve Merrifield and Pache will be an interesting storyline to follow.
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