Phillies outfield starts season off on the right foot
There was plenty of talk before the start of the season centered around the Phillies’ outfield. Many wondered if the trio of Brandon Marsh, rookie Justin Crawford and bounce-back candidate Adolis García would produce enough to be better than previous versions of Phillies outfields.
So far so good.
Marsh, Crawford and García combined for six hits in the Phillies’ 6-5 extra-innings win over the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon. Crawford recorded the first walk-off hit of his career driving in Marsh from third with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The hit capped off a strong first week with the Phillies for Crawford. His win-securing hit was his third of the day and the RBI was his first in the majors. He doubled in the fourth inning for his first career extra-base hit. In the five games he’s played, the 22-year-old has picked up a hit in four of them.
Crawford wasn’t alone with a strong first impression. After recording one hit in three games against the Texas Rangers, García went 6-for-14 with a walk and a home run — his first with the Phillies — against the Nationals.
Marsh is also off to a good start. He’s recorded a hit in five of six games and is 7-for-20 overall. His seven hits are tied with Crawford and García for the team lead.
Marsh has continued to display the ability to make hard contact; he had a 46.4 percent hard-hit rate last season. Marsh has put 16 balls in play so far and six have had exit velocities of at least 95 mph; four touched triple digits.
Offense wasn’t the only bright spot for the Phillies’ outfielders expected to receive most of the playing time this year. Marsh made a strong catch on the run to secure a 3-2 win on Tuesday night. Crawford played good defense and showed off his arm at times. His best play in the field came on Saturday against the Rangers when he made an impressive leaping catch up against the State Farm sign in left-center field on Saturday against the Rangers.
Altogether, Marsh, Crawford and García are batting .356 with an .882 OPS. Last year’s Phillies outfield hit .247 with a .710 OPS.
Six games is an extremely small sample. It doesn’t predict future success. But how Marsh, Crawford and García have played was a bright spot in the Phillies’ season-opening, 3-3 homestand.