Phillies’ Brandon Marsh feels he’s where he’s ‘supposed to be’ for an on-time start to the season

TAMPA, Fla. — Six weeks ago, Brandon Marsh walked with the assistance of crutches after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

“Was it that long ago?” Marsh said Saturday. “Dang. Time flies.”

Not that fast, as it turns out, which is fortunate for the Phillies.

All along, team officials maintained — and Marsh agreed — that the wet-haired, bearded outfielder would be ready to play on opening day. But you know how these things can go. Three- or four-week timelines have a way of turning into six- or seven-week absences.

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It ranks among the Phillies’ better spring-training developments, then, that Marsh has gotten 16 plate appearances in a half-dozen Grapefruit League games, played left field and center, and checked nearly every box necessary to begin the season on time.

Surely, Marsh would’ve cosigned for that six weeks ago.

“One thousand percent,” he said. “This was on my mind the whole time, and I think it was on our training staff’s mind the whole time as well. I’m so happy we were able to get back before opening day and get some games under my belt in the big ballpark.”

It’s a big year for Marsh. Last season, he doubled his walk rate and reached career-highs in on-base percentage (.372), doubles (25), home runs (12), and OPS (.830).

But he still struck out in nearly one-third of his plate appearances and continued to struggle against left-handed pitching, his biggest flaws in three major-league seasons with the Angels and Phillies.

At age 26, Marsh will get another opportunity to prove he’s capable of playing every day. These things can take time. As one team official noted this spring, Jayson Werth split time in 2007-08 before emerging as the right fielder, although his initial role was dictated more by injuries than performance.

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The point remains: Marsh can move his career in one direction with a solid season and another with a poor one.

“For sure,” said Marsh, a .223/.278/.312 hitter in 296 plate appearances against lefties compared to .272/.347/.438 in 897 plate appearances against righties. “It’s always motivation to try to do better against those lefties to try to get some more games throughout the season.

“It is a big year for me personally just because I feel like I’ve got another year of experience. I’m still really young, but I’m excited for the year to come.”

If conditioning his knee for an on-time start to the season Thursday against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park represented Marsh’s primary spring-training objective, getting his timing down at the plate wasn’t far behind.

Within the past week, Marsh has made progress in that area, too.

Marsh got into his first Grapefruit League game on March 13. Since then, he has played mostly every other day, including Tuesday, when he drew the challenging assignment of facing hard-throwing Yankees lefty Carlos Rodón and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

But two days later, Marsh legged out a triple to the gap in right-center and stroked an RBI single against the Orioles. He added an RBI double Friday against the Tigers at BayCare Ballpark.

It was a good week. Especially because Marsh is making a point of being aggressive at the plate in spring training. And when he’s aggressive, he tends to chase pitches out of the strike zone.

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“I think we’ve done a decent job of being aggressive within the limits and just shooting your shot when we get into a good count,” said Marsh, who often uses the “royal we” in talking about himself. “I like where the eyes are at. I feel confident where I’m at. I know there’s still a long way to go for all of us, but I feel ready.”

Six weeks ago, that was hardly guaranteed. Now, though, manager Rob Thomson can go ahead and write Marsh’s name into the lineup against Braves opening-day starter Spencer Strider.

“The plan was to get back in mid-March, and we did that,” Marsh said. “It was pretty solid. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be, and I think that’s a good recipe for success.”

Bryce Harper played first base, as expected, for five innings Saturday against the Yankees and went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly to deep center field against Rodón in the first inning of a 6-6 tie. ... Former Phillies manager Joe Girardi called the game for YES Network. ... New dad Aaron Nola will get his final spring-training tune-up at 1:05 p.m. Sunday against the Blue Jays in Clearwater (NBC Sports Philadelphia+, 94 WIP). Nola’s wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, last week.

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