Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh scratched with shoulder inflammation

Brandon Marsh’s absence from the Phillies’ lineup has to do with more than merely facing left-handed starting pitchers.

Marsh was slated to return Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park after not starting back-to-back games Sunday and Monday against lefties. But the Phillies scratched the slumping center fielder with what they described as right shoulder inflammation.

Dalton Guthrie took Marsh’s spot in center field for the third consecutive game.

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Manager Rob Thomson explained that the Phillies decided after batting practice that they wanted Marsh to rest his shoulder by not swinging a bat in the game. Thomson said Marsh was available to pinch run or play defense, if necessary.

“We’ll check him [Wednesday],” Thomson said. “There’s a chance he’s going to be able to play.”

If the injury doesn’t respond to rest and Marsh winds up needing to go on the injured list, lefty-hitting Jake Cave or Simón Muzziotti could be in line for a call-up from triple-A Lehigh Valley. Cave is 31-for-71 (.437) with five homers since getting sent down three weeks ago; Muzziotti is batting .365/.407/.491 with three homers and 10 stolen bases.

Thomson said Marsh’s shoulder pain “has been going on for a little bit.” It would help explain a 2-for-31 slump in which he’s hitless in his last 14 at-bats. He has one extra-bat hit in a span of 67 plate appearances and none since May 9.

It’s a stark contrast to Marsh’s torrid April. He began the season on a 26-for-74 (.351) roll with 14 extra-base hits and a .703 slugging percentage through April 26.

“He’s been fighting through it. He’s a tough guy,” Thomson said. “It’s just getting to the point where we’re concerned it was changing his swing and maybe it was creating a bad habit, and we wanted to shut him down today and just get treatment and try to work it out.”

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In explaining why Marsh wasn’t in the lineup Sunday and Monday, Thomson said the Phillies wanted to give him a breather against a pair of lefty starters: the Cubs’ Justin Steele and the Diamondbacks’ Tommy Henry. Marsh had started 16 of the previous 18 games.

Marsh did play the final three innings Monday night and went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.

“He’s still walking a little bit, which is good,” Thomson said. “What he needs is to get a little more back in the [strike] zone. When he gets tired, he gets out of the zone a little bit, tries to do too much.”