What exactly has happened to Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh?
It's hard to believe that back in July, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh was playing in his first career All-Star Game. Because since then, he has been atrocious.
How atrocious? He has been so bad that he has literally been the worst hitter in baseball since the All-Star break, owning a .475 OPS over 57 games. His OPS+ is 37. His wRC+ is 24. And after batting .301 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI during the first half, he is hitting .180 with two homers and 18 RBI since.
What in the world has happened to Marsh?
Yes, it seemed likely that Marsh would come back down to earth following his scintillating start in which he owned an .890 OPS through June 7. He also smashed nine long balls in the month of June overall.
For a hitter who owned a lifetime .740 OPS and had never hit more than 16 home runs in a season prior, you could tell that he was probably playing a bit over his head.
But what we have seen the last two-and-a-half months has been the other end of the extreme, and it makes you wonder what is actually going on.
Is Marsh playing through an injury? That would be a reasonable explanation for why his production has torpedoed beneath the earth since the All-Star break.
Is it something mechanical with Marsh's swing?
Has the 28-year-old simply lost confidence? Is he focusing too much on his struggles rather than actually going out there and playing the game?
Because at this point, Marsh's issues have gone beyond the point of a slump. Slumps don't last for two-and-a-half months. This is different.
It has reached a stage where Marsh — who has also labored in the field this season — has become virtually unplayable. He isn't even much of a platoon player right now.
Marsh hasn't homered since Aug. 13, which represents his only dinger since July 21. He has just one extra-base hit since Aug. 22. He has one RBI in the month of September. He hasn't walked since Aug. 29.
And after showing very minimal signs of life in August with a .244/.320/.314 slash line, Marsh is now mired in his worst stretch of the campaign, owning a .128/.128/.154 slash line over 40 plate appearances in September. That's a .282 OPS, which looks more like a bad on-base percentage.
That's how bad things have gotten for Marsh, and things aren't getting any better. In fact, they are getting worse, which leaves Don Mattingly with one heck of a decision heading into the playoffs.
Because with Marsh playing this poorly for an extended period of time now, it's worth wondering if he is even worth rostering.
