Six days after undergoing arthroscopic debridement surgery on his left knee, Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh was pleased with how his rehab has progressed.
"Great. We're on track, everything's been going as it should day to day," Marsh said Wednesday from Clearwater. "I'm in a good state of mind right now. We're right on track."
The Phillies provided a 3-to-4 week timetable for Marsh's return, saying last weekend and again this week that they expect him to be ready for Opening Day.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"That's the plan," Marsh said. "It should be just a couple of weeks and be out there for Opening Day at the Bank. It's been a great recovery process and pretty easy. It's just time (needed) for the swelling to go down."
Marsh felt discomfort in the knee periodically during the offseason and eventually felt enough pain to have it checked out in early February.
"It may have just ran prior back to a couple of things I did to the knee, like in Cincinnati in 2022, just a loose body hanging around down there," he said. "It was a really simple surgery, not too much to go in-depth about it."
Marsh is a very important player for the Phillies. He's their projected starter in left field and may be needed in center depending on how Johan Rojas swings over the next two months. Marsh made major strides offensively last season, hitting .277/.372/.458 with 25 doubles, 12 home runs and 60 RBI. His 472 plate appearances were 30 short of the requirement to qualify for leaderboards, but his .372 OBP would have ranked ninth in the National League.
Philadelphia Phillies
Marsh was also impactful defensively in left field after switching over from center when Rojas seized that job in the second half of 2023. Right field will belong to Nick Castellanos.
"I feel like that's a pretty ideal outfield for the Phils," Marsh said, "having Ro get nine-tenths of the outfield out there and then Casty and I get the other spots. Rojas is incredible out there, as we all know. I get to learn from him even though he's three years younger.
"Seeing all the guys' faces, it lifts you up. I know it was a short offseason but it's good to see the guys. When my time comes this spring, it'll come. The only thing I can control right now is my attitude and my effort toward this knee."
Cristian Pache and Jake Cave would likely be the reserve outfielders if the season began tomorrow, but it doesn't, and there are still plenty on the free-agent market. The Phillies haven't signed one because they can't offer everyday playing time, and some of these guys who have lingered in free agency — Whit Merrfield, Tommy Pham, David Peralta, Eddie Rosario, Randal Grichuk — haven't held out this long just to sign as fourth outfielders who don't have a firm path to even a platoon role.
While things appear to be progressing smoothly during Marsh's rehab, his injury highlights the thinness of the Phillies' outfield from an offensive perspective. Should they lose Marsh or Castellanos for a period of time, they don't currently have an outfielder to plug in who could be expected to produce consistent results at the plate. The front office will continue to monitor the outfield market and there are still plenty of interesting players looking for jobs.