After 2-homer game, Marsh nearing .400 in AFL

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MESA, Ariz. – Brandon Marsh is well aware of the talk about the need to hit for power. It’s been the one tool out of all five he has in his box that hadn’t shown up consistently in games.

One game isn’t a trend, but Marsh certainly made sure Arizona Fall League fans on hand at Sloan Park on Monday left knowing he’s got plenty of pop in his bat, launching his first two home runs of the AFL season in a 9-5 loss against Glendale.

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“It felt good to get the monkey off the back,” the 21-year-old Angels prospect said. “I was wondering when it was going to happen here even though I’m not known for the long ball. It was a good day at the plate. It felt good.”

The first came in the sixth inning against Brewers lefty Quintin Torres-Costa, a ball he deposited into the right-field bullpen. At the time, it cut the Desert Dogs’ lead to 4-2.

“He’s supposed to have heavy sink and run,” Marsh said. “He threw the first one middle-in and it didn’t do anything. He came right back with the same pitch, so I tried to put my A swing on it. It turned out well.”

In his next at-bat, facing Cardinals right-hander Kodi Whitley in the eighth inning, Marsh crushed a ball out to right-center field.

“He came right back with another middle-middle heater,” Marsh said. “It had a little cut to it, so it kind of threw me for a loop. I took that one. He came back with a slider up and I was just a little out front of it; I was ready for his heater. He left it a little bit up and I just let my hands and body do the rest.”

Marsh, who also made a nifty running catch in right-center to take away an extra-base hit from the Reds’ Jonathan India, missed nearly all of June with an ankle sprain, but finished up well with Double-A Mobile, hitting .357/.429/.520 in August, so what he’s done this fall -- a .391 average with an 1.127 OPS -- is really just a carry-over.

“It was a long process to get to where I was at the end of the year,” Marsh said. “I’m just glad I’m able to carry it throughout the Fall league. It’s been fun. I just have to keep it going.”

Marsh has shown the ability to hit throughout his pro career since the Angels took him as a Georgia two-sport star in the second round of the 2016 Draft, and he’s worked to refine his approach. It’s led to a career .287 average to date with a .368 on-base percentage. One thing he’s been mindful of as he’s climbed the ladder is not to sell out for power just to get those numbers, and he didn’t do that on either long ball on Monday.

“I wasn’t trying to put them out,” Marsh said. “I was just trying to put a barrel on it, try to put it in the gap. I stuck to my approach and it turned out well.”

That’s why Marsh is confident the power is going to start showing up more consistently as he advances, even though he has hit just 21 homers in over 1,000 pro at-bats for a .431 slugging percentage. There’s enough bat speed and strength for him to start sending balls over the fence on a more regular basis while continuing to show an advanced approach from the left side of the plate.

“I know it’s in there; the guys know it’s in there, but it’s just a matter of when, and when it clicks,” Marsh said. “Today was just one of those days where I’m just speechless. It’s just baseball, man. It was on my side today. It’s tough we didn’t get the win, but I feel good going into tomorrow.”

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