The outfield for the Philadelphia Phillies is not something anyone would call a strength of the team.
Entering Saturday’s matchup against the New York Yankees, as the Phillies attempt to secure their second consecutive series win against an American League opponent, only Nick Castellanos can be considered an above average hitter with his OPS+ and wRC+ figures being 103 and 105, respectively.
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And unfortunately for Philadelphia, they won’t have him in the lineup on Saturday.
According to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic, Castellanos is getting the day off after he jammed his knee when approaching the right field wall on the final play of Friday’s game. Manager Rob Thomson said the slugger is a bit sore, so they have kept him out of the lineup and will check back on Sunday.
Taking over in right field will be Max Kepler, with Brandon Marsh moving over to left and Johan Rojas in center.
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That trio starting a game together is the worst-case scenario for the Phillies.
While Thomson has gone to that look for defensive reasons late in games, this is a limited offensive group with Marsh’s wRC+ of 86 — 14 points below the league average — being the best of the bunch, followed by the maligned Kepler at a figure of 83 and then Rojas at 63.
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If this doesn’t signal to the front office that Philadelphia needs to find another outfield option, then nothing will.
The good news is Castellanos’ injury doesn’t seem serious, as it sounds like he’s only sitting on Saturday because of precautionary reasons.
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