Phillies' Brandon Marsh somehow better than Ty Cobb, all hitters in MLB history in one stat

Heading into the 2026 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies fan base is concerned about their outfield. Relying on Justin Crawford, Adolis Garcia, and Brandon Marsh in a platoon is far from ideal for most fans.

While there's some upside here, the downside is real. But, Phillies fans should at least feel confident about Marsh in the outfield, as he can lay claim to an impressive statistic.

Somehow, according to Codify Baseball on Twitter/x, Marsh's offensive production at the plate is among the best in MLB history, and the best ever over the last 108 years.

Brandon Marsh might be one of the best hitters ever, kind of

According to Batting Average on Ball in Play (BABIP), Marsh has been one of the best hitters in MLB history. Codify Baseball notes that in the last 108 years of MLB history, no hitter is better than Marsh when it comes to BABIP.

Marsh sits with a .371 BABIP, while Ty Cobb, the legendary Hall of Famer known for some of the best contact skills in all of MLB history, has a .369, tied with Rogers Hornsby for second-best BABIP of the last 108 years.

He's not first in all of MLB history, as Cobb does hold that mark with a ridiculous .383 BABIP in his career. But Marsh is second all-time, and first in the last 108 years, according to Codify Baseball.

His .371 BABIP is incredibly impressive and highlights how, if he can put the ball in play, Marsh is one of the better hitters in baseball.

There is one glaring issue, however. Marsh strikes out too much. He had 110 strikeouts this season, and 154 and 144 in the two years prior. He's never had a season below a 25.9% strikeout rate since his MLB debut in 2021.

More: MLB Hot Stove tracker: Live updates on news, rumors, signings and trades for 2025 free agency

For comparison, Cobb's highest mark in his 24-year MLB career was a 13.9% strikeout percentage, and he had only one other double-digit strikeout percentage season. Marsh's best season by strikeout ratio was worse than Cobb's worst two seasons combined.

As long as Marsh can put the ball in play, he's one of the best hitters in the history of baseball. The only issue is that he doesn't put the ball in play nearly enough.

Marsh is striking out 31.4% of the time in his career, walking 9.3% of the time. That means 40.7% of the time Marsh steps up to the plate, he's not putting the ball in play.

If he could just cut down on his strikeout rate, Marsh might be able to put up some All-Star caliber seasons based on his BABIP being the best in MLB history.

This statistic is an odd one that doesn't mean Marsh is the best hitter ever, but it does mean that, if he could just cut down on his strikeouts, he could become one of the best hitters in the sport. The upside is there; he just needs to put the ball in play more.

More MLB news:

• Orioles predicted to make $180 million splash signing with best free-agent starter
• Mets predicted to trade for 22-year old switch-pitcher from Mariners for slugger
• Tigers' Tarik Skubal gets $32 million contract update from ESPN's Jeff Passan
• Red Sox linked to free agent reunion with member of 2018 World Series championship team
• Yankees predicted to trade 22-year old rising star to fill big need
• Giants predicted to trade for 29-year old All Star
• ESPN projects Pirates to sign $42 million home-run hitter to chase NL Central title