The Philadelphia Phillies made a late offseason addition when they signed Whit Merrifield to a contract.
While it's not the blockbuster move that many expected the Phillies to make after dominating free agency the past few years, getting the super utilityman onto their roster makes them much more deep offensively and flexible defensively.
Perhaps they might not have pursued the All-Star as aggressively if it weren't for Brandon Marsh's knee injury that forced him to get surgery.
Despite their young star expected to be back for Opening Day, it's still best to prepare in case things take a turn for the worse.
However, Philadelphia got some positive news regarding his injury recovering as Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported he did some jogging during Spring Training and is expected to start working on the virtual pitching machine soon.
Without a proper ramp-up period that a healthy preseason would have offered Marsh, it's important that he does everything in his power to make sure he's ready to face Major League pitching when he does return.
The 26-year-old is coming off his best season in the MLB after slashing .277/.372/.458 with a career-high 12 home runs and 60 RBI. He also had his best bWAR mark of 3.4 and OPS+ of 127.
Marsh is projected to be the starting left fielder, alongside Johan Rojas in center and Nick Castellanos in right.
Merrifield will likely rotate across the outfield and infield throughout the season, depending on rest days given and specific pitching matchups.
Hopefully for the Phillies, Marsh's early injury is the only thing they have to deal with prior to Opening Day this year.
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