BALTIMORE — Ever since Brandon Marsh was placed on the injured list, on June 3, manager Rob Thomson has emphasized that his outfielder’s hamstring strain was mild. Thomson was being true to his word. On Saturday afternoon, the Phillies activated Marsh off the 10-day injured list after a two-game rehab assignment with double-A Reading.
He missed only eight games and was back in the lineup ahead of Saturday’s game against the Orioles. As a corresponding move, infielder Weston Wilson was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Given the number of players the Phillies have on the injured list right now, Thomson was happy to have Marsh back.
“He’s healthy. He’s ready to go,” Thomson said. “So it’s another piece.”
Thomson said he will check in with Marsh every day, depending on how much running he does in games. He plans to use him the same way he was using him before — with occasional at-bats against lefties.
“I think [I’ll protect him against lefties], but I want to see him gets reps against lefties because I think eventually he’s going to be able to hit them,” Thomson said. “He’s shown flashes of good at-bats against certain left-handed pitchers. So I think it’s there.”
He added: “Probably a little bit more of the same, and then as he gets better and better just keep at it.”
Entering Saturday, Marsh hit .135/.227/.162 through 37 at-bats against lefties this season, and .304/.380/.504 in 125 at-bats against righties. He played center field in one of his two games in Reading, which is something Thomson said he would consider doing at the big league level again.
“Oh, sure [I’d consider it],” he said. “Yeah. Right now, we have [Johan] Rojas and [Cristian] Pache, but I view [Marsh] as a center fielder as well.”
Thomson hopes to have Trea Turner back soon, too. It’s unclear when Turner, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain on May 4, will return, but he is getting close. The shortstop ran the bases again on Saturday afternoon. Thomson said the Phillies will make a determination on his status after Saturday’s game.
When asked if he could return by Sunday, Thomson said, “in theory, yes,” but that is not set in stone.
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Catchers to stay with set pitchers
As J.T. Realmuto continues to recover from knee surgery, Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán will alternate filling in for him. Thomson said that he plans to pair them with the same pitchers. He will stick Stubbs with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Taijuan Walker, and Marchán with Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez.
