Philadelphia Phillies All-Star outfielder Brandon Marsh left Thursday's loss to the Houston Astros after fouling a ball off of his foot. In the eighth inning of Thursday's loss, Marsh fouled the second pitch of his at-bat against Bryan Abreu off of the top of his left foot. He struck out on the following pitch, and made way for Derek Hill in the top of the ninth inning.
Luckily for the Phillies, Marsh's X-rays came back negative, though he may still need to take some time off. That's bad news for the Phillies, who currently sit in a heated Wild Card race in the National League. They hold the top spot in the Wild Card at the moment, one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs and 3.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres.
The worrying portion of their season is yet to come, though, as they have three difficult series against the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, as well as an NL East grudge match against the New York Mets on the road. Marsh would be a huge miss for the Phillies if he misses time, as he has been one of their best players all season. He earned his first All-Star selection this year, putting together a blazing first half of the year.
He has 17 homers and 58 RBIs on the year, posting a .734 OPS through 140 games on the year. The Phillies don't need to worry if Marsh lands on the injured list, as they have a pretty solid backup plan for the All-Star. Justin Crawford will likely stay in center field for the Phillies and Bryce Harper is sure to keep his spot in right, leaving Hill to take over for Marsh in left field if necessary.
Hill is having a great season for the Phillies, posting the third-highest OPS of any player on the team with more than 50 appearances, only placing behind Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. He has six homers and 19 RBIs through 56 games this season, and his .790 OPS is his best with any team over the course of his seven-year career. Marsh could very well remain in the lineup, though, given the less serious nature of his injury, and will hope he can continue contributing to the Phillies' season.
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