Phillies Acquire CF Brandon Marsh from Angels for C Logan O'Hoppe

[gmwannabe]

That's just more great news I have to hear. Can it get any worse?
gm

[Austinfan]

If Marsh turns out to be a .750+ OPS CF with plus defense, I don't care if O'Hoppe is a 20+ HR starting catcher.
Because that has less value the next few years for the Phillies than a CF who can cover for two corner OFs with limited range.

[andyb]

We are not going to know for 5 years and Marsh has yet to put up a 750 OPS or plus defense. If O'Hoppe is a 20+ HR starting catcher with at least average defense though that is probably more valuable than what Marsh could put up. The question then is really should the Phillies have gotten more for O'Hoppe and NOT whether they could have played O'Hoppe at catcher themselves.

The Phillies did not have to trade O'Hoppe when they did. They chose to. And O'Hoppe's value probably would have been greater now for the next offseason if he had put up stats for Reading to close the year just like he did for the Angels' farm club.

[allentown]

Marsh certainly won't put up a .750 MLB OPS for this season. He has a decent chance of doing so as a Phillies player, in far fewer 2022 ABs than he's had for Angels. O'Hoppe's AA numbers are superb. I didn't like this trade when it was made, but Marsh is on target to put up about 1.4 bWAR this year. The Phillies did have a desperate need for a CF. If we make post-season, this will have been an ok deal.

[Ryles]

Will Marsh learn how to play winning baseball by knowing when to wear sunglasses on sunny days?

[Austinfan]

Marsh is intriguing, he got rushed, should have had a full season (500 PA) in AAA, but the same holds for Stott and Veirling,

Thing with Marsh is he's not a fast, slap hitter like a lot of defensive CFs, he's got a full size body with commiserate power. There's a lot for Long to work with.

[Philsmania]

What do the metrics really say about Marsh's defense, especially since coming over? I know he's had a couple of notable fielding gaffes which stand out in peoples' minds. Other than them, how has he done?

[phillychuck]

The metrics I've seen have him a little below average in CF, but that includes the gaffes, of course.

Scouts believe he's above average in CF. Let's see after he has a spring training. He should cut the beard, it makes him look 50 year old.

[julio]

Yeah, defensive metrics are pretty notoriously unreliable and inconsistent, even over full seasons. Partial seasons/small samples? I don't see any real insight lurking there.

[flyers19rw]

Granted that O'Hoppe is young. However after watching him play a couple of games with the Angels, some scouts are questioning his ability to handle catching in the major leagues. Not that he won't improve but he needs work. Perhaps that is a reason why the Phillies were willing to make a deal that included him.

[Austinfan]

If he's below average defensively, his hitting is discounted, and if he has to move to 1B/DH, he really needs to hit to be a top prospect.

[zambonir]

He might be a back-up catcher, he might be a catcher who hits enough to make up for lesser defense (with the occasional DH spot). I doubt he's anything but a catcher.

[andyb]

I am not sold on Marsh being plus defensively. He has decent speed and range for an outfielder, but among the subset of legit center-fielders it is much more average. And we have seen the mistakes. Obviously like any young fielder he can get better in that respect, Defensive stats are variable of course, but for 3 years in a row he has been average at best in CF. Plus in LF but very average or a little below in CF.

I do agree that there is some untapped potential in the bat that was not realized in California. But I also see O'Hoppe's offensive potential as even higher. In 2021 he had a BB/K ratio of 33/76. In 2022 that improved to 70/74 with more BBs than Ks at his last stop. That is extraordinary. Marsh has a major league ratio of 27/154. It is 5/37 with the Phillies. The K rate has improved but so has his BABIP (from a high .341 to a skyhigh .386).

It really looks like the biggest change in Marsh with the Phillies is his increased aggressiveness. His BB rate has dropped along with the K rate. There just is not evidence he is a much better hitter yet. Hopefully he can adjust to seeing less strikes in the future, because that will happen if he keeps swinging early in the count.

[flyers19rw]

One of the raps on Marsh as a hitter prior to the Phillies acquiring him was that he changed his approach to hitting from one pitch to the next. His swing was never duplicated as he was fidgeting around in the box so much between swings. Maybe Kevin Long can work with him and settle Marsh down. It's going to take some work.

[zambonir]

I was just thinking the other day that we've stopped posting about Logan O'Hoppe

[BostonRoss]

I’m not missing Moniak too much either

[el-pietro]

I realised today I had 5 euro in Mickey Mo to win RoTY. I also had the same on Stott. And the same on Bryce to repeat as MVP.

[Austinfan]

Yeah.

One player is a top prospect who could be a good ML player in a year or two.

The other is 24 and played a major role in getting us to the Championship series.

[phillychuck]

If Marsh can hit about a 720+ OPS and live up to the high end of his defensive reputation it's almost irrelevant how good O'Hoppe becomes, although I will alway slightly prefer someone who has fought their way through our minor leagues system to someone from the outside. Utley and Rollins over Victorino, slightly, because of their history. Doesn't mean I don't love Shane. Loving Marsh would require some taming of the beard, though. Philly is athlete beard central with Marsh and Harden...

[zambonir]

Philly is athlete beard central with Marsh and Harden...

And Kelce's still got a pretty good one. Plus we had Werth and Hartnell (and Giroux). Imagine how young Marsh must actually look under that!