Almost two years later, Brandon Marsh still remembers what time it was. His phone buzzed. He answered a call that changed his life. “I was walking to the cage,” Marsh said. “It was 12:34, I believe. California time.” It was trade deadline day, Aug. 2, 2022 — the last time he stood inside Angel Stadium.
“That’s a long time,” Marsh said last week.
He returns Monday as a Phillies outfielder. It’s been 21 months. Marsh has since come to appreciate how a transaction between two teams on different sides of the country can have a lasting effect. Two weekends ago, a young fan was on the field for batting practice at Citizens Bank Park. The boy wore a fake beard that looked like Marsh’s. He loved it. He’s seen more No. 16 jerseys in the stands this year. If he stayed with the Angels, maybe this all could have happened.
Maybe not.
“My whole life as a player and person changed,” Marsh said, “coming over here to Philly.”
Brandon Marsh (center), Johan Rojas (left) and Nick Castellanos jog off the field Sunday after the Phillies swept the Padres. (Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)
He’s spent more time in the majors now with the Phillies than he did with the Angels, but they were the organization that drafted him. They groomed him. Angel Stadium is where his family gathered in July 2021 — three months after Marsh’s father, Jake, died of cancer — for Marsh’s big-league debut. They brought an urn with Jake’s ashes to the game. Marsh was supposed to share an outfield with Mike Trout for years. It lasted 163 games over two seasons.
Marsh, a hyped prospect, was only that at the time of the trade. Hype.
“There’s not much that I want to remember as a player,” Marsh said. “You know? As a player, I feel like I could have been a lot better over there.”
Marsh’s future is still unwritten. He is, once again, enjoying a strong April. He made huge strides in his game last season — both in on-base and slugging skills — but the missing part is consistent production over six months. It’s how he takes the next step.
Sometimes, Marsh catches an accidental peek at his former self. The Phillies could be preparing for an upcoming starter with old video, and there’s Marsh wearing an Angels jersey. Marsh doesn’t pay much attention to it.
“I just see a different guy,” Marsh said. “I’m still young, but I was like a niño niño then, man. I feel like I didn’t know what my role was or what I was there to do. I was there just playing really without a purpose.”
He laughed.
“Still saw a little bit of a dog in there, though.”
Brandon Marsh slashed .239/.299/.354 with the Angels. He’s batted .282/.357/.471 since joining the Phillies. (Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
Marsh had an idea Philadelphia would give him a purpose in the weeks after the 2022 World Series. He was a meaningful piece of something special.
With purpose, he found a routine that eluded him in Anaheim.
“Every day doesn’t feel different now,” Marsh said. “And that just comes with experience. I don’t have a lot of it, but I have a little bit. Just knowing that I’m supposed to be here. In the most humble way, knowing I’m supposed to be on the field with these guys. I’m not showing up to the field, like, ‘Oh, if I play bad, am I going to get benched for a week?’ That kind of thing. And I had that feeling in Anaheim a little bit.
“But God works in mysterious ways, man. I feel like this changed me as a player. As a person. My whole outlook on baseball and life coming over to Philly has been for the better.”
The trade led him to Alec Bohm. They are both tall, have a lot of hair, and play baseball. The similarities end there. Marsh had teammates who were friends in Anaheim — he’s excited to reconnect with Jo Adell this week — but he didn’t have Bohm. They are roommates. They are inseparable. What if the trade never brought them together?
“I don’t want to imagine it,” Marsh said.
The long-haired Marsh isn’t serious about most things. He plays baseball at one speed and, generally, that’s how he lives too. But the connection with Bohm is real. Bohm is a year older than Marsh, who’s 26; they have a shared experience as up-and-coming regulars on a star-laden roster.
“That’s a guy I can go to when times are hard,” Marsh said. “That’s a guy who I can go to when it’s not about baseball. And I know he’ll be there for me because I’ll be there for him. Not to get all sentimental. But that’s my guy out there.”
Bohm, who is riding the best month of his career, credits Marsh for keeping life light. The two teammates use each other to stay grounded — during hot streaks and slumps. They spend all day together at the ballpark, but it’s different away from it.
“When we go home,” Bohm said, “it’s just hanging out with the boys instead of sitting at home thinking about baseball, or thinking about your swing, or thinking about the mistakes you might have made that night. The relationship and living together away from the field has been pretty beneficial to us both as players and off the field as well.”
Marsh claims he cracked Bohm, a reticent dude even in the clubhouse, open. “I wouldn’t know what life would be like as a Phillie,” Marsh said, “if I never got Bohmer to open up a little bit.” They’re both weird. The whole thing works.
“I’m a little bit more outgoing, and he’s a little bit more on the shy side,” Marsh said. “It’s a perfect balance. Whether he knows it or not, he’s done a lot of things for me, man.”
Brandon Marsh (left) and Alec Bohm are close friends. They help each other stay grounded. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)
Marsh has solidified his spot in the majors, even as a conversation the Angels had two years ago persists. They were not certain Marsh would hit lefty pitching. The Phillies traded a good prospect (Logan O’Hoppe) who has since become the Angels’ starting catcher because they viewed Marsh as a future everyday outfielder.
He’s not there yet.
“I’m showing up to the yard knowing what I’m going to get,” said Marsh, who is hitting .291/.333/.547 this season. “In Anaheim, it was a little different situation. We weren’t winning as much as we were here. Here, we have a plan. A process. We know who’s hitting. We know who’s going to play.”
The Phillies faced 11 lefty starters in their first 26 games. That ranked third-most in the majors. Marsh started four of those 11 games, a slight increase from a season ago. In 2023, Marsh started only 15 of the Phillies’ 51 games versus lefty starters.
They’ll face two Angels lefties as Marsh returns to Anaheim. He’ll probably play Tuesday against Tyler Anderson but not Wednesday against Patrick Sandoval.
“You pick the left-handed pitchers that you think they’ll have the most success against,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said last week. He added: “There’s nothing wrong with giving a guy a couple of days off.”
The Angels version of Marsh might have let doubt creep into his mind. But he knows where he stands with the Phillies. “He’s just this really good athlete,” Bohm said, “who wanted to get better every day.” The Phillies expect to play him more against lefties this summer.
Marsh was fighting for his big-league status when the Phillies plucked him from California 21 months ago. Back then, his mom and sister would stay awake past 1 a.m. back home in Georgia to watch Marsh. Now, they see more games. They have experienced the highs and lows of October with Marsh.
That trade had a profound effect on everything.
“It’s all changed for the better,” Marsh said. “I mean, I’m super happy and blessed.”
(Top photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)