Marsh homers after lineup tweak for Phils' struggling offense

PHILADELPHIA – Phillies manager Rob Thomson suggested on Wednesday that he might tweak his lineup before Friday’s series opener against Arizona at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phils had not scored a run in 20 consecutive innings. They ranked 24th in baseball, averaging 3.5 runs per game. He needed to do something, so he flipped Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh from the fourth and seventh spots, respectively. It gave the Phils four lefties in the first five spots of the lineup, which made sense considering the Diamondbacks have no left-handers in the bullpen.

Marsh hit an opposite-field, three-run home run in the first inning to give the Phillies a four-run lead. But the Phillies immediately returned to their offensive malaise as Jesús Luzardo imploded in the fifth inning to lose 5-4.

The Phillies had just four hits after the first inning.

They struck out 16 times.

They have scored in only one of the last 29 innings they have played.

“I mean, it’s early, man,” Marsh said. “We still have a lot of time to go be great in the future.”

It was the first time the Phillies had struck out 16 or more times in a game since they struck out 19 times in a 10-inning victory on Opening Day 2025, when they faced MacKenzie Gore and the shadows at Nationals Park. There were no shadows on Friday at the Bank. There was only Michael Soroka, Jonathan Loáisiga, Juan Morillo and Paul Sewald.

“I think it was just one of those days,” Marsh said. “It’s baseball. You play every single day. A lot of at-bats, a lot of pitches thrown. You’ve just got to tip your cap. They beat us by one today. So, we’ve got to be a lot better tomorrow.”

The Phillies have played 13 games in 2026 thus far. They are 6-7, but they have survived slow starts before. They started 4-9 in 2023, 5-8 in 2022, 6-7 in 2009, 6-7 in 2008, 3-10 in 2007, 6-7 in 1980 and 5-8 in 1977 and made the postseason each year.

Of course, there are plenty of other Phillies seasons where they started slowly and didn’t bounce back.

The Phillies need their offense to bounce back. It has had seven or fewer hits in six of the past seven games and nine of 13 games this season.

Only the Angels (10) have more games with seven or fewer hits.

Coincidentally, Marsh and Bohm each struck out a team-high three times on Friday. Marsh at least had the homer. Bohm did not. He went 0-for-4. He also hesitated on Alek Thomas’ bunt in the fifth inning that ultimately loaded the bases with no outs. Bohm was on the infield grass when Thomas bunted. Bohm took a step toward third base, then moved toward the ball.

It was too late.

Luzardo fielded the ball, but his throw to first base was late.

“We need to get an out right there, you know?” Thomson said. “We had a four-run lead. We need to come and get the ball, be aggressive and get an out at first base.”

Bohm is batting .170 with a .505 OPS through his first 12 games. He batted .151 with a .336 OPS through his first 12 games last year. Around this same time last year, Thomson dropped Bohm from fourth to seventh or eighth in the lineup.

He batted .307 with an .800 OPS in his final 106 games.

“He’s just missing,” Thomson said. “I don't know whether it's timing or what. Contact point. Could be a number of things.”

It isn’t just Bohm, though. The Phillies are batting .219, which ranks 24th in baseball. They have a .662 OPS, which ranks 21st.

Marsh said he does not think the offense is pressing.

Why not?

“Because we’ve got a lot of ball to play,” he said. “A lot of ball to play.”