Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski reveals the team doesn't plan on replacing Brandon Marsh amid a lack of league-wide offensive production.
Phillies' Dave Dombrowski Doesn't Plan to Add Brandon Marsh Replacement at Trade Deadline originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
For the Philadelphia Phillies outfield, this season has been a tough one. Nearly every outfielder has had stretches where they struggled significantly. No one struggled more than Brandon Marsh to start the year.
His struggles led to the fan base calling for Dave Dombrowski and the front office to find a replacement. But, regardless of Marsh's recent improved performance, Dombrowski gave the fans some bad news recently.
In an article from Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dombrowski, the Phillies' president of baseball operations, revealed the team is unlikely to land an outfielder at the trade deadline as they did a year ago with Austin Hays.
"I don't think it's too similar," Dombrowski said, "I think the thing you have to realize is offense is down. It's hard to find guys to put up numbers. I mean, it just is."
While Dombrowski didn't say he wouldn't make a move in the outfield, he's effectively justifying Marsh and the rest of the outfielders' play. The offense is down league-wide, and Dombrowski doesn't see any significant improvements that could be made at the deadline.
It isn't just the Phillies who have struggled in the outfield; it's a league-wide issue.
"Through Thursday, the major league-wide batting average was .245," Lauber writes, "Which would be the fifth-lowest mark since MLB lowered the mound in 1968."
The offense is down overall, especially in the outfield. "In left field and center," Lauber writes, "league-average slugging was .399 and .387, respectively, tied for third-and fifth-lowest in 57 years."
With offense down, Marsh's .260 batting average and a .379 slugging percentage aren't too terrible. Despite being below average, Dombrowski believes Marsh "has been performing very well for us."
Based on his production lately, Dombrowski ins't wrong. Since May 3rd, Marsh has a .311 batting average, a .371 on-base percentage, and a .444 slugging percentage. His .815 OPS is also very strong.
His season stats are so much worse since he started off the year on a terrible note. Through April, Marsh was hitting just .095 with a .387 OPS. Putting it bluntly, he was awful at the start of the season.
But after taking some time off, Marsh has returned better than ever and has been solid for the Phillies. Between Marsh's recent production at the plate and Kepler's power coming into play, Dombrowski is leaning towards not adding a new outfielder at the MLB trade deadline.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
