Why does Marsh need a platoon partner but Bohm (.629 OPS against righties and there's a lot more of those ABs) doesn't?
“Last year, coming into the middle of the season, it was a little more difficult,” Dombrowski said. “But we think he can continue to grow versus left-handed pitching. He will hit left-handed pitching. We don’t look at him as a platoon-type of player. We think he has more ability than that.”
Guthrie would slot behind Marsh as the backup center fielder. The Phillies, even after trading Vierling, have quite a few center fielders still on the 40-man roster. Simon Muzziotti was on the Opening Day roster last year but missed large chunks of time in the minors with various injuries. He tore his right patellar tendon and needed surgery last August. Johan Rojas is on the 40-man roster and is regarded as a defensive and speed weapon who needs to improve his hitting.
They, at the very least, could handle center for a few weeks if Marsh gets injured.
“We have some young center fielders coming up behind him,” Dombrowski said. “We don’t think that Rojas, for example, is ready per se at this time. Although he would be ready from a defensive perspective. Muzziotti, we like a great deal. He’s healthy going into the year. We feel like we have some depth behind (Marsh).”
That story also all but suggests that they could ship out Coonrod or Nelson or some other spare relief part for someone else's spare bench part.
