The Phillies made a rather significant lineup change Saturday, moving Nick Castellanos from the cleanup spot to eighth.
In explaining the move hours before his team took on the Marlins, manager Rob Thomson said he wanted to reduce some of the pressure on Castellanos while still giving him RBI opportunities batting behind Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott.
"You look at Marsh's numbers, is he really a seven-hole hitter?" Thomson asked rhetorically.
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Not in 2023, he hasn't been. Marsh has leveled up offensively this season and been a consistent force at the bottom of the order for the Phillies, specifically from a table-setting perspective.
He singled with two outs to extend a second-inning rally and cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fifth inning of Saturday's 8-4 win over the Marlins. The Phils led the game 5-0 early before Aaron Nola faltered in the top of the fifth and things intensified for a bit until Marsh stroked a two-out line drive to right off of lefty Emmanuel De Jesus.
Marsh has hit .342/.437/.537 over his last 50 games, a significant chunk representing nearly one-third of a big-league season and more than 40 percent of his plate appearances.
"His swing decisions, he's commanding the plate," Thomson said. "Just being able to control his at-bat day in and day out has been great."
Philadelphia Phillies
Castellanos settled into his temporary new lineup spot by hitting a two-out, two-run double to start the scoring in the second. The Phillies had two outs with nobody on in the inning against veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto before six consecutive hitters reached. Kyle Schwarber capped the early rally with a 425-foot, three-run home run to center. Schwarber is up to 42 home runs and 93 RBI, one below a career-high set last season.
Castellanos also singled and stole a base in the fourth and walked in the eighth. This lineup spot, eighth, was the lowest he's hit in any start since 2015. He's been expanding the strike zone and chasing a ton lately. Saturday night, he seemed to make a point of seeing more pitches.
"I thought his at-bats were good," Thomson said. "Big hit to give us the lead. He saw some more pitches, drew a walk."
The Phillies picked up a full game in the wild-card standings on the Cubs, who lost earlier in the day to the Diamondbacks. The Phils hold a three-game lead over the Cubs for the top wild-card spot, which comes with home-field advantage in all three games of the opening round of the playoffs. The Phils own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so it's really a four-game lead, and they are also up four games in the loss column. They have 21 games left and the Cubs have 19.
Nola pitched well until the fifth when he was hit hard and pulled at 4⅓ innings in a second straight short, disappointing start. His 4.64 ERA is the second-highest of his career.
"I don't know if he lost his command or what but it was very strange because the first three innings, he was very good," Thomson said. "All the sudden, he lost it. ... I still have a lot of faith in Aaron, I really do. I trust him. The bigger the game usually, the more he steps up.
"Nick's going through a tough time. Great night tonight, but he'll come out of it. He's a really good hitter. Same thing with Aaron, he's a really good pitcher, there's a lot of really good numbers on the back of his baseball card. I trust that we'll figure this thing out."
Jeff Hoffman relieved Nola with runners on second and third and one scored on a sacrifice fly, but he bridged the gap to the seventh inning with 1⅔ scoreless. Hoffman has been such a key piece of the Phillies' pitching puzzle this season with a 2.35 ERA in 45 appearances, 10 of which have been longer than an inning.
The Phillies hoped to have longer starts to begin their homestand because of an upcoming doubleheader against the Braves on Monday. Cristopher Sanchez had more left in the tank when he was pulled at five scoreless innings Friday, but no matter the reason, the Phils have used their bullpen to cover 8⅔ innings in the first two games.
Ranger Suarez starts Sunday's series finale. He went four innings and 75 pitches in his return from a hamstring injury last Sunday. The Phillies are 7-3-1 in 11 series since August 1 and looking to claim another.