We are a week into the month of March, which means regular season baseball is almost upon us.
Heading into the season, it has been the outfield that draws the most questions for the club. After having a below-average group in 2024, the Phils needed to see improvement from this group in 2025. The Phillies are going into the season with two everyday starters: Max Kepler in left and Nick Castellanos in right. As it stands, center field will be manned by a platoon of Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh.
Today, we break down the biggest questions surrounding each outfielder.
Phillies Outfield
How will Max Kepler perform against left-handed pitching?
The Phillies signed Max Kepler to solve their biggest issue: left-handed hitting. They have tried every year to find a corner outfielder who can hit lefties. They thought they found it in Austin Hays at the deadline and, for many reasons, it didn’t work out.
Kepler is not known to be a force against lefties, but his line against left-handed pitching last season was one of the best of his career. He hit .273/.305/.416/.720 with a pair of home runs, 10 RBI, and 19 strikeouts. Nick Castellanos was the only outfielder on the Phillies with better stats against left-handed pitching.
If he can bring that into the Phillies lineup in 2025, it will go a long way in helping the Phillies defend their NL East crown.
Can Johan Rojas find his swing?
Johan Rojas is the best defensive outfielder I’ve seen put on a Phillies uniform in my nearly 27 years of life. Rojas was in the 93rd percentile in range, 97th percentile in arm value, and 92nd percentile in arm strength in 2024. His defense has never been a question, especially in the minor leagues.
The question has always been the offense when it comes to Johan.
In 2024, he was in the fifth percentile in average exit velocity, fourth percentile in barrel percentage, sixth percentile in hard-hit percentage, tenth percentile in chase percentage, and third percentile in walk percentage. He hit .243/.279/.322/.601 with 32 RBI and three home runs. Unfortunately, he will be platooning centerfield with Brandon Marsh, so the opportunities in what could be considered his “prove it” year will be much fewer than he would probably like.
Will Brandon Marsh cut back on strikeouts?
Brandon Marsh has a strikeout problem. Like Rojas, his defense is amongst the best on the current Phillies roster.
His 32.4% K% was the worst on the Phillies and in the third percentile in Major League Baseball this past season. He ended the 2024 season with 154 strikeouts and 104 hits. He tends to strike out on pitches high and outside or low and inside. Marsh and Rojas have a lot of similarities going into this season, one of those seemingly being in their “prove it” years. Unfortunately, they’re blocking each other from playing every game to prove themselves. There will be opportunities where they are on the field together, but not as much as in 2024.
If Marsh can speed up his bat (a statistic he ranked in the 52nd percentile last season), it will go a long way in preventing the strikeouts and scoring runs.
Will Nick Castellanos lay off the outside pitch?
Nick Castellanos has had a roller-coaster Phillies tenure. His inaugural season with the club was underwhelming, followed by an all-star season in 2023. Castellanos’ biggest problem has always been chasing pitches outside the strike zone. His 37.8% chase percentage was in the fifth percentile in all of Major League Baseball. It is an improvement over 2023, where he was in the second percentile, but it’s still a glaring issue.
The theme for the outfield is offense. The offense is what completely broke down and failed in the postseason. They didn’t do much to solve the issue in the offseason, showing trust in the lineup to fix it and make another run for the ultimate prize.
Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
