Ma(r)shed Taters
Brandon Marsh (PHI): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
The Phillies-Pirates scoreline was a rollercoaster last night. Philadelphia jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three innings, before conceding two runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth. They made a valiant comeback attempt, adding two runs in the eighth inning to pull within one before the Pirates finally pulled away in the ninth. Two of the Philadelphia runs were 100% Brandon Marsh. The Phillies outfielder ended the night 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Marsh’s big day left his season line at .322/.354/.529, one of just three Phillies who have been above average at the plate. The ball was flying in this one, as the Phillies started with a Trea Turner leadoff homer. Marsh came to the plate three batters later and got a 91 MPH slider from Braxton Ashcraft low and over the middle of the plate. Marsh smoked it to left-center at 102.2 MPH for the second solo homer of the inning. His next two at-bats vs Ashcraft weren’t so successful, striking out in the third and sixth. In the eighth inning, the Pirates brought in Gregory Soto to face the heart of the Phillies lineup. Marsh engaged in some left-on-left violence, crushing a four-seamer at the top of the zone out to right-center at 102.4 MPH.
Marsh’s lines have fluctuated as he’s gotten incredibly aggressive at the plate, although it’s working for him this year. There are three distinct two-year periods in Marsh’s plate approach in the big leagues. In his first two seasons, Marsh swung at 64.4% of pitches in the zone and chased 30% of the time outside the zone. He had a decent 6.7% walk rate, but struggled with strikeouts, running a 34.5% K rate. In 2023-24, Marsh figured out some of his chase problems, going outside the zone only 24.4% of the time at the cost of cutting his zone swing rate to 61.3%. His walk rate shot up to 11.5%, but the strikeouts remained elevated at 31.4%. Nevertheless, his wRC+ improved by nearly 30 points in these two seasons thanks to improvement in his OBP and the addition of some power. Since Opening Day 2025, though, Marsh’s approach could perhaps most accurately be described as “eff it, let’s swing.” After swing rates of 41.1% in 2023-24, Marsh swung 46.7% of the time in 2025. Marsh added 5 percentage points of chase rate and almost 4 percentage points of zone swing rate that season. This year, he’s chasing nearly 38% of pitches outside the zone and swinging at over 71% of pitches in the zone, both career highs by more than 5 percentage points. It’s working for him, though, as his strikeout rate has fallen to 26% over the past season-and-a-half, although his walks have disappeared as well. Marsh is a line drive hitter (16th in the majors in line drive rate) with good speed who sprays the ball all over the field. He’s got a career .376 BABIP in 2400 PA’s. Giving himself more opportunities by swinging more seems to be the right call.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Monday…
Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT): 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB.
Valdez has been producing over his first 16 games for the Pirates. Last night’s output raised his season line to .289/.360/.778. He’s succeeding with excellent bat speed (75.2 MPH) and high-end exit velos (95.5 MPH average) covering for his 17.6% swinging strike rate and 38% K rate. Valdez struck out in his first at-bat, then alternated extra-base hits and walks for the remainder of the game. Valdez’s contact issues aside, he’s had an excellent plate approach in his limited time in the majors. He’s chasing only 22.5% of pitches outside the zone, but maintaining aggressiveness inside the zone with a 67.6% zSwing. Ten of Valdez’s 26 batted balls have been barrels. His strikeout rate has improved in the minors, but right now he looks like a high-variance bat without many defensive contributions to secure a lineup spot.
Endy Rodríguez (PIT): 2-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, 2 BB.
Rodriguez did a bit of everything in this one, with power, patience, and attempting to bunt for a hit. Rodriguez singled on a bloop to left in his first at-bat, then came back to the plate with the bases empty in the fourth inning. This time, Rodriguez attempted to bunt for a hit. An odd choice for a catcher with 41st percentile sprint speed, but I love the gumption. He was thrown out at first. Endy added an RBI walk in the 5th and another in the 7th, before capping his night with a three-run bomb off a hanging sweeper in the 9th.
Cole Young (SEA): 3-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Young and the bottom of the Mariners’ lineup only got to the plate three times, but he made the most of his opportunities. Young led off the third by driving a middle-middle sinker to straightaway center for his first homer of the night. He added a line drive single in the fourth and was stranded. His last at-bat of the night was in the sixth inning against Mitch Farris. Young turned on an up-and-in fastball and bounced it off the second deck in right field for his 9th home run of the year. Young struggled in May, but his wRC+ in both June and April stand at 126.
Cam Smith (HOU): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Smith had three hard-hit balls on the night. Two of them left the yard for his 10th and 11th homers of the year, while one was a smoked groundout. Smith’s first homer was the only damage the Astros did to Zebby Matthews, who was otherwise sharp on the night. Matthews threw a front-door slider to Smith that leaked over the middle of the plate, and Smith sent it over the Crawford Boxes at 110.6 MPH. In the ninth, Smith and Taylor Trammell went back-to-back, although off different Twins relievers. Smith got a nearly identical slider over the middle of the plate from Yoendry Gomez and again sent it way out to left. Gomez got the next Astro to ground out, though, for a one out save, his 9th save of the season.
Willson Contreras (BOS): 1-2, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Another day, another minor controversy for the Red Sox first baseman. Contreras started his day by being served a middle-middle meatball from Miles Mikolas and put it over the Monster onto Lansdowne Street for a three-run homer. In his second at-bat, Contreras was rung up on a checked-swing appeal which, on replay, looked correct to me. Contreras didn’t protest at the plate, but, while nearly at the Red Sox dugout, patted the top of his helmet. Maybe it was frustration, or maybe Contreras wanted to use the challenge sign for a non-challengeable call to demonstrate what he thought. Nic Lentz, the home plate umpire, immediately ran Contreras and explained afterward that tapping the helmet on a non-challengeable call merits an automatic ejection for disrespect. Whatever anyone thinks about that, Lentz is at least consistent – he ran Taylor Walls for the same thing last year before ABS was even in the majors.
Caleb Durbin (BOS): 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB.
The Durbin resurgence continues, with yesterday’s performance raising Durbin’s June line to .325/.360/.614 with six home runs. Durbin took full advantage of his home park, lifting a first-inning middle-middle sweeper from Mikolas into the first row of seats on the Monster. His homer was the kind of high fly ball that is usually a routine fly out; Statcast gave it an .050 expected average, and it would have left only one other major league park. Fortunately for Durbin, the first inning was all the Red Sox would need. He lined out and grounded out in his next two at-bats, then walked and was stranded in the 8th inning.
Edouard Julien (COL): 2-2, 2B, R, 2 BB.
Last night, Julien showed a bit of what everyone was dreaming of when he was ascending through the Twins’ minor league system. The now-Rockie second baseman walked to load the bases in the second inning before being stranded at third. He added a double in the fourth inning, but was doubled off second after Xavier Edwards made an excellent leaping grab on a Jake McCarthy liner. Julien walked again in the sixth, then had a hard-hit line drive single in the 9th. Ultimately, Julien’s line still sits at .232/.336/.311 despite the advantage of playing half his games in Coors. Giving opportunities to players like Julien is a big improvement due to the new Rockies front office, but it doesn’t look like Julien will get too many more of these chances.
Photo courtesy of MLB Photos | Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
