After over a year of going through one of the roughest stretches in his MLB career, a 28-year-old has turned things around dramatically. The Phillies outfielder entered the game on Sunday as one of the hottest hitters this season. Following that, Brandon Marsh has earned the respect of his teammate. 

“I feel like he’s always had it in him,” Kyle Schwarber remarked. “I don’t think there’s ever been a doubt.”

Marsh is a decent hitter with a career average of .267, but the way he has reinvented himself is definitely worth the praise.

During April 2025, he had a disastrous start with 0 hits from 29 at-bats. Things slowly started to change as he recorded 17 hits in the next month. Excluding April, his average hits per month were around 20 the entire season. 

That’s why Schwarber seemed so confident when he said, “If you take away April, it’s pretty good. The more that he’s been able to go out there and do his thing and build that confidence and keep with his routine, great things are going to happen.”

Brandon Marsh signed a one-year, $5.2 million contract with the Phillies in January 2026. And the year has turned out to be one of his best so far.

He has already recorded 47 hits from 133 at-bats, scoring 22 runs in the process. A .353 AVG has put him at the top of the MLB list. 

When asked about the feeling, Marsh said, “It’s pretty freaking cool.”

He believes it is more mental than a physical thing to play at the level he is playing. 

“I feel like after that April last year, I kind of refound myself and my confidence again. It just all starts there.”  

He also gave credit where credit was due.

Marsh acknowledged how Garrett Stubbs and Christian Arroyo helped him after his slump and rehab last year. The duo made sure Marsh was able to relax, and more importantly, have fun on the field again. 

A .303 AVG is already impressive, but the way he has lifted it to .353 is beyond impressive. And Brandon has a 12-game hitting streak now. This is why Schwarber showed so much confidence in him. And it’s not just Kyle alone. The entire franchise has taken notice of his hits. 

Brandon Marsh is forcing the Phillies to rethink his role

Marsh had been stuck in a platoon role for some time due to his struggle against left-handers. He entered 2026 with a .204 batting average against LHPs. But he has translated that into .286 as the season settled in. And he has also recorded an RBI of 5. 

Although it’s not nearly as good as his .347 AVG against the right-handers, it’s still good enough for the Phillies. And the best part is that he is spraying the ball across the field (almost a third for pull, middle, and opposite), making it difficult for the opponents to shift against him. 

As a result, interim manager Don Mattingly has moved him from a platoon role and sees him as a more everyday starter.

He is earning more at-bats as well. Back in April, he had 84 at-bats playing 23 games. In May, the number is already 34 from just 9 games. It shows that the manager is also putting a lot of faith in him. 

Marsh, in turn, has responded in kind.

His strikeout rate has come down from around 30% to approximately 20%.  

The Phillies’ president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, had put the entire clubhouse on alert right after firing the then-manager Rob Thomson. Although he didn’t single anyone out, he made sure that players understood the urgency of the situation. With Brandon Marsh stepping up, it looks like the message was heard. All they need right now is consistency.