A hot start for Marsh

[Angels]

Angels No. 3 prospect collects four hits in second pro game

By Gerard Gilberto / MiLB.com | June 21, 2017

After more than a year of being unable to play a competitive baseball game, Brandon Marsh is more than ready to put his bat-boy duties behind him.

The Angels' third-ranked prospect started his professional career with the Rookie-level Owlz on Monday and has made great first and second impressions. He amassed four hits, three runs and two RBIs in doubled, singled three contributed a double, three singles, a pair of RBIs and three runs in Orem's 16-5 rout of Ogden at Lindquist Field on Wednesday.

"I haven't felt that adrenaline rush in like, forever," Marsh said. "When I saw all those people there and all the fans, just people there to like support us on Opening Day, it was just a relief-type feeling. It feels like I'm back in the game. I'm actually contributing to the team. It's just … it was a great feeling."

The 19-year-old collected a hit and scored twice in the season opener Monday and is hitting .455 after his first 11 at-bats in the Pioneer League.

"Everything is like a job now to play baseball, which is weird to say, because I've never thought about that before in my life," Marsh said.

The lefty-swinging outfielder last played on May 23, 2016, when he led Buford to the Georgia High School Association AAAA Championship. Less than a month later, he was drafted in the second round by Los Angeles. The two sides didn't reach an agreement until a week before the signing deadline.

One of the things the parties couldn't see eye to eye on was a injury later discovered to be an asymptomatic stress fracture in his lower back. Marsh said he didn't feel any pain, but the team decided to hold him out for the remainder of the 2016 season.

"It was just precautionary to do the rehab course that I did," he said. "It wasn't fun. But it was for the best. Now I'm just getting back in the swing of things and it's feeling great."

Marsh is appreciative of everything the organization has done to help him progress as a ballplayer, beginning with the lifestyle adjustments.

"You walk into the clubhouse, you see what you have to do, you don't have anyone tell you what to do anymore. It's all on your own," he said. "They helped me out with a routine and a checklist that I go through every day when I hit, so that's been a huge help for me.

"Instead of working on the positives, I've been working on the weaknesses, so I can just even everything out."

A year away from playing in games gave Marsh the opportunity to make some mechanical adjustments as well. He's worked on getting his legs more involved in his swing.

"I was more just an upper body-swinging hitter and now I'm using the whole body," Marsh said. "It's just a lot of really small things that's helped me just perform and use my legs a lot more and hit balls a lot harder."