By Mike Gill
Lou Marson was scratched from the Iron Pigs line-up and sent on a plane headed for Denver. Starting catcher Carlos Ruiz is headed to the DL with a strained rib cage – enter Marson.
The Phillies top position prospect was an unimpressive 0-for-20 during spring training, but did hit .314 for Reading in 2008. His one appearance in Philadelphia last season saw the talented catcher go 2-4, hitting his first major league home run in the process.
The Phillies made it known in the off season that Marson was the future, trading away former catching prospect Jason Jarmillo to Pittsburgh for fellow catcher Ronny Paulino. Paulino was later dealt away for left-handed reliever Jack Taschner, opening the door for Marson to play if Ruiz was to be injured.
Here we are now, less the a week into the Phillies quest to repeat and already they have had their first obstacle. With Ruiz down, I would assume that Marson gets at least a 60/40 split of the playing time with Chris Coste. The big question is, what if Marson gets the majority of the playing time, makes the most of it and the Phillies don’t won’t to send him back to the minors.
Consider, Marson is just 22 years old and probably use a full season at triple-A Leigh, but he did hit .308 in eight games at this summers Olympics. The kid can flat out hit and is probably ready to hit at this level. So at 22 can Marson handle a pitching staff that has struggled out of the gate?
One of his strenghts is his defense. He threw out 36% of runners trying to steal and pitchers love throwing to him, he is more then willing to sacrifice his body to block stuff that is down in the dirt. Marson is ready to catch at the big league level.
So whats stoping him?
Well, so far it has been the Phillies reluctance to remove Ruiz from the line-up. This time they didn’t have to, Ruiz suffered an injury that could hamper his ability to throw and hit for at the very least two weeks. So whats to say at the end of the two weeks, Marson is hitting .400 with two home runs and the pitchers enjoy throwing to him that he the Phillies don’t just keep him on and play him every day?
Loyalty. That is something the Phillies have, sometimes to a fault. Marson is ready and I think he is about to prove it to Phillies fans.
I don’t know it’s so much loyalty as it is delaying arbitration eligible years, which has been the Phils’ m.o. If, however, Marson has a couple good weeks, it will be difficult to justify sending down a quality right handed bat in this lefty heavy lineup. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good showing.