It has been a little over a month since Rob Thomson officially declared that the Phillies will use an “outfield rotation” on August 20th. What that statement effectively meant between the lines was that the team
was no longer going to start Nick Castellanos every day. Instead, the plan going forward would be to sit him to allow Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler to get playing time without taking Harrison Bader out of the lineup, essentially deeming the latter the everyday starting center fielder. Weston Wlson would also be able to get the occasional start against a tough left-handed pitcher.
Since that date of August 20th, the Phillies have the best record in the National League and fourth best overall at 19-11. Their outfield leads all outfield units across baseball in batting average (.301), on-base percentage (.366), and slugging percentage (.518) over that span while their 3.0 accumulated fWAR is fourth best in that time frame.
Much of the credit for the outfield’s resurgence has to go to Harrison Bader. After a slow and sporadic group of starts to begin his Phillies tenure, Bader has been on fire for the better part of the last month. He’s hitting .329 as a member of the Phillies with an .889 OPS and has slugged five home runs in 44 games while also impacting games with his top-tier defense. It’s arguably some of the best play the Phillies have seen in centerfield since the days of Shane Victorino, small sample size notwithstanding.
Not to be overshadowed, Brandon Marsh has also seen an uptick in his production since the rotation became official. He’s been much better on the whole since returning from injury following his dreadful start to the season, but Marsh has hit another gear since the beginning of September. In 14 games played in the month of September, Marsh is hitting .358 with an OPS of 1.074. He’s sat five times against left-handed pitching, but that hasn’t dulled his production or the team’s success. Weston Wilson has manned Marsh’s spot on occasion, and although he’s only played ten games since the start of September and only three in the outfield, he does have two home runs and six RBIs.
Max Kepler meanwhile looked to be a failed signing who was destined to be DFA’d once the deadline came to pass, but the Phillies made the unpopular decision to keep him on the roster even after they acquired Bader. That faith has been rewarded, as Kepler has finally found a way to be a positive contributor since the beginning of August. After struggling to the tune of a .203/.297/.357 batting line for the season’s first four months, Kepler is hitting .257 with a .797 OPS since August 1st. His six home runs are the third most on the team over that span, behind only Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Plus, his defense has been improved since moving back to his more natural position of right field instead of left.
The elephant in the room once this rotation went into effect was of course Nick Castellanos. The Phillies right fielder had a dust up with Thomson earlier this year when he was removed from a game for defensive purposes and hasn’t exactly been shy about his feelings regarding the reduced role. But Castellanos’ play forced the Phillies hand, as he hit just .193 with a .553 OPS across July and August and his already poor defensive skillset continued to deteriorate.
But a funny thing has happened since Castellanos became a part-time player; he’s started to hit. In 19 games played since the outfield rotation officially came into existence, Castellanos is hitting .262 with a .736 OPS. That’s still not what you would want to see from someone of Castellanos’ caliber, but it’s a major improvement from where he was previously. He’s been even better in September though, as Castellanos is hitting .306 with an .833 OPS and four extra-base hits through eleven games. No player wants reduced playing time and many have a hard time accepting the reality of time when it catches up to them, but it’s hard to argue against the idea that the reduced role has actually been to Castellanos’ benefit.
Castellanos wasn’t the only outfielder to be dissatisfied with playing time, as Kepler had his own run in with the media back in June. The Phillies outfield situation is far from conventional, as they are basically running a five-man outfield and two platoons, but the results speak for themselves over the last month. Not all the players involved may be happy about the rotation, but they are all benefitting from it.
