Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishPHILADELPHIA — Brandon Marsh leaned on the dugout railing at Citizens Bank Park for most of Monday night’s game. He wore a red T-shirt without his uniform top underneath. His long hair was not wet. He did not anticipate playing because, 16 games into this season, the manager deemed his center fielder needed a break.He is hitless in his last 26 at-bats, a brutal streak but still well shy of franchise infamy. Raúl Ibañez once went 35 at-bats without a hit while playing for the Phillies and, upon the streak’s triumphant conclusion, said: “The only way to function is to pretend it never happened.” The Phillies are asking everyone, including the announced 40,636 people who jammed into Citizens Bank Park on a Monday in April for a 10-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, to breathe a bit. No one can make sweeping judgments with April baseball.But, then, the man who replaced Marsh in center field Monday struck out on three pitches with runners on second and third base and no one out in the fourth inning. Johan Rojas embodied the current Phillies, who are 7-for-54 with runners in scoring position over their last seven games.The game found him again in the sixth inning. Runner on third, one out — just had to put it in play. The Phillies, at that point, trailed by two runs. It was still within reach.Manager Rob Thomson sat Marsh because he believed the 27-year-old center fielder needed a “mental and physical blow.” The Phillies entered this season with legitimate questions about their outfield, and even with a .917 OPS from right fielder Nick Castellanos, those questions have persisted. So much so that Thomson, after Rojas struck out again with a runner in scoring position, second-guessed himself, unprompted, after the game.“There’s an argument to pinch hit in the sixth,” Thomson said.He cited two decent at-bats Rojas had last May against San Francisco righty reliever Randy Rodríguez. “So I felt OK with him,” Thomson said. And, even if the manager had lifted Rojas there, he would not have tabbed Marsh. It would have been Kody Clemens, who had taken three plate appearances in the season’s first 15 games.So Rojas hit in the sixth. But in the eighth, Clemens pinch hit. He grounded out. Marsh, scheduled for a mental vacation, entered for defense in the ninth inning.
Johan Rojas finished 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. (Chris Szagola / Associated Press)Before Monday’s game, Thomson sounded inclined to sit Marsh for three days. “Just let him watch for a little bit,” Thomson said. The Phillies face Justin Verlander on Tuesday, then lefty Robbie Ray on Wednesday. Marsh definitely won’t start against Ray.The lineup’s weeklong malaise is not driven by Marsh. But when the team’s only offensive addition over the winter came through a one-year deal to Max Kepler, a greater onus was placed on the holdovers to improve. Marsh, a productive but inconsistent player, represents one of the best shots at a breakout.“I definitely don’t think we’re clicking offensively,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “I’m not worried about that at all. It’s a matter of time. We have a lot of guys that definitely haven’t played up to where they would like to. We’ll get there. We have a good offense.”Marsh, at the very least, was in a better mood Monday. He had a despondent outlook Sunday afternoon when he told reporters in St. Louis, “I just feel like I’m letting my guys down. I need to be better for them.” Thomson heard those comments; they were enough for the manager to push pause.“He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself to do well,” Thomson said. “And when you get to that point, I think it’s time just to relax for a minute.”But the manager cannot bench everyone at once. Sixteen games into the season, the Phillies are not looking to shuffle the deck. “I think you got to get to 100 at-bats for sure, maybe closer to 150, before you really think about doing something drastic,” Thomson said. “So we got a lot of time.”What they do not have are viable outfield alternatives.The Phillies opened the door to speculation — and opened it wide — by assigning Justin Crawford to Triple A. The 21-year-old outfielder has batted .254/.302/.339 in 14 games for Lehigh Valley. He’s hit the ball hard with one of the higher average exit velocities on the IronPigs through three weeks. Crawford remains a developing player who needs experience.The prospect closest to the majors, Gabriel Rincones Jr., isn’t the best fit for the current roster. Rincones bats left-handed. He does not play center field. But he’s crushed righty pitchers at Triple A. He’s someone to watch if the Phillies suffer an injury at one of the corner outfield spots.Weston Wilson, who strained his oblique in spring training, is expected back later this month; he’ll play nine innings Tuesday at Lehigh Valley. He could be a right-handed option for left field whenever the Phillies face a lefty starter.
Nick Castellanos watches his solo homer in the fifth inning. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)For now, they need to make this outfield work. It would help if others in the lineup produced. The Phillies bled Giants starter Landen Roupp for three runs on 36 pitches in the first inning Monday. They were at home, ready to flip the narrative, then mustered one run over the next eight innings.“That’s going to change,” Thomson said. “Those balls that are put in play, they’re going to fall at some point. They are going to produce. We’re walking more than we’re striking out with runners in scoring position, so that’s a good thing. I talk about it all the time — the ups and downs of the season. The ebbs and flows, it will change.”Thirty-five minutes after the game ended, Kyle Schwarber walked into the clubhouse in full uniform with two bats in his hand. He had spent all of that time in the underground batting cage.There is only so much to pretending.“It’s easy to say, tough to do sometimes because you’re under the microscope,” Thomson said before Monday’s loss. “But you have to be a professional. You have to turn the page and move on.”(Top photo of Brandon Marsh: Ali Overstreet / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
