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Brandon Marsh

The Philadelphia Phillies won 95 games in 2024, their highest win total since 2012 when they notched 102 wins. But the end result was the same. Philadelphia was eliminated from the playoffs in the National League Division Series. In 2012 they were vanquished by the St. Louis Cardinals, last year by the New York Mets. In 2025, the Phillies are looking to get back to the playoffs for the fourth straight season, and take a shot at their first World Series victory since topping the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 — which was only the second World Series championship in the 122-year history of the franchise.

The Phillies will be paying out more in player salaries than any other team except the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers this year, so they would like some bang for their buck. But in a Spring Training game Sunday, all they got was banged up — to the tune of $13 million.

Marsh, Kepler Leave Game After Outfield Misadventures

That figure is the combined salaries of two outfielders expected to comprise two-thirds of Philadelphia’s Opening Day outfield, who suffered contact-related injuries in Sunday’s 12-1 win over Baltimore at the Orioles’ spring training home of Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. In the offseason, the Phillies acquired former Minnesota Twins 10-year veteran Max Kepler on a one-year contract worth $10 million.

The other $3 million goes to 27-year-old Brandon Marsh, who avoided arbitration going into his fifth big league season by signing a one-year deal for the $3 million amount. Marsh was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2016, making his big league debut in 2021. But the following season, the Angels sent Marsh to Philadelphia in a one-to-one deal for catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

In Sunday’s game, according to a report by Philadelphia Inquirer beat writer Scott Lauber, both Marsh and Kepler were forced to leave early after separate incidents. But the news, at least for the moment, did not seem as bad as it could have been. Both outfielders were removed from the game by manager Rob Thomson for “precautionary reasons,” according to Lauber.

Thomsen plans to sit both Kepler and Marsh for Monday’s home game against the Toronto Blue Jays as well. But both players claimed that the injuries were not serious and had they been playing a non-exhibition game, each said they would have continued.

Phillies Lack of Outfield Depth Facing Early Test

Marsh fell on the warning track in pursuit of a fly ball in the first inning on Sunday, then in the second dove for a sinking line drive, causing his knee to impact the ground.

“Nothing happened to it, just impact on the ground,” Marsh told Mauber. “It just got a little tight from banging it.” He added that the contusion was “nothing serious.”

As for Kepler, he slammed into the Ed Smith Stadium wall making a catch to end the bottom of the first. Though he left the field unaided, he did not come out for the second inning.

Kepler told the Inquirer that he took swings in between innings and his back “felt stiff. But then again, it just feels like a bruise. It’s a precautionary thing, and we want to play it smart and don’t want to reaggravate it.”

The Phillies had better hope the injuries to Marsh and Kepler are as insignificant as the players say they are. Backup outfielder Johan Rojas has yet to play in the field this spring after injuring his shoulder during the winter ball season. Two other potential fill-ins for Marsh or Kepler, Cal Stevenson and non-roster spring invitee Óscar Mercado will start the season at the Triple-A minor league level, according to Lauber’s report.