He's only 24, #60 pick, hit in the minors but has struggled in the majors.
Plus defensive CF, LH bat so possible platoon with Vierling.
He was the Angels top prospect in 2020, so there's upside potential.
His BB rate is much lower, and his K rate much higher in his two ML seasons, so there's room for improvement.
While Marsh has always shown a good feel to hit, he took a big step forward in his overall approach and setup at the plate in 2019. He worked with the Angels to stand more upright from the left side of the plate and that enabled the rest of his swing to click into place. That resulted in a .357/.429/.520 August and carried over into his .328/.377/.522 AFL campaign. He's always been willing to draw walks, but he cut down on his strikeout rate and had an above league average 19 percent miss rate in 2019. That not only will help him continue to hit for average but will also allow him to keep getting to his power more consistently, as he did late in the season.
Marsh's plus speed is an asset on the basepaths and in the outfield. He can steal a base and he's proven to be a plus defender in center field to go along with a plus arm. He's obviously not going to play center for the Angels, but luckily has no problem sliding over to either corner for whenever that first call to the big leagues comes.
Here's a review of his rookie season from Fansgraphs:
But I’m here to argue that Marsh is one of the most interesting young hitters around, worthy of your utmost attention. And it all starts with a number one might consider a red flag: a .403 BABIP.
Among hitters with 200 or more plate appearances last season, Marsh’s .403 BABIP ranked second. You probably know the stigmas surrounding the metric — that it can fluctuate wildly and is usually something players can’t control. But while BABIP for pitchers is notoriously noisy, hitters are more predictable. Those with fly-ball tendencies like Joey Gallo tend to run a low BABIP, as fly balls rarely land for hits. Those who don’t have as much loft like Adam Frazier fare better, but groundballs are also at the whims of batted ball luck and infield positioning. No, to maximize BABIP, one must become a line drive machine — like Brandon Marsh.
Of Marsh’s 147 batted balls last season, 49 were line drives, for a rate of 33.3%. That was tied for the second-highest rate in baseball, and that’s with a low minimum of 100 batted balls. And that matters, because the league-wide BABIP on line drives was an astonishing .622, the highest of any batted-ball type. There’s nothing here in regards to sustainability, but the point is that Marsh’s approach is what granted him BABIP success. His swing is compact and direct to the ball, which is perfect for line drives.
That sweet swing did him another favor. Just one of his batted balls was a popup, for a rate of 0.7% — and the league-wide BABIP on popups was an abysmal .017, the lowest of any batted-ball type. This isn’t brand-new territory; according to a January 2021 scouting report from Prospects Live, Marsh ran “one of the lowest infield fly ball rates” during his time in the upper minors. All in all, he has a track record of avoiding mis-hits.
