Brandon Marsh gave himself a buzzcut in 2017 during his rookie-ball season in Orem, Utah.
A year later, the admitted late bloomer surrounded by friends with a lot of hair on their heads and chests decided it was time to let his hair grow — on his head and face.
One of the thousands of superstitious professional baseball players, Marsh said that he is not resorting to a clean shave in order to find a fresh start at the plate.
“They are going to stay,” Marsh said after playing five innings Thursday night for the IronPigs on a rehab assignment for a mild hamstring strain. “It’s like me asking you to cut off your arm. You don’t want to do that.
“These [hair and beard] are off limits. It’s been since 2018 when I last saw my chin.”
Marsh was in an 0-for-31 funk with the Phillies before going on the injured list on April 20 (backdated to April 17). His last MLB hit was a single in the top of the seventh inning of a March 30 loss at Washington. He slashed .095/.220/.167 with 16 strikeouts in 51 plate appearances this year and had hits in only two of the 17 games he played for Philadelphia.
The 27-year-old was 0 for 2 Thursday with a walk. His first at-bat was a 112-mph laser that Columbus center fielder Will Brennan ran down.
Marsh said he felt good at the plate and running down a few fly balls in the outfield for Lehigh Valley. He expects to start Friday night but is not sure how long he’ll play.
The Georgia native is maintaining a simple philosophy at the plate as he works to regain his swing.
“I feel like you have to go out there and think less,” Marsh said. “You just have to trust the drill work and all the work you put in hours before the game and the days before the game.
“The hamstring wasn’t on my mind at all. That’s a plus in my judgment. It felt great. The at-bats felt good.”
Marsh said his slow to this season has been tough on him. He has not had a stretch this rough. The Angels’ second-round pick in 2016 has a career .252 batting average in five major league seasons and a .291 average in seven minor league campaigns.
“I’ll be the first one to tell you that there’s been some tough days in the past couple of weeks for me, for sure,” Marsh said. “But that’s with every ballplayer. It’s a game of failure. I have a such a great support staff around me that’s picking me up and helping me.
“I’m blessed and thankful to be here just playing the game of baseball. I never knew I’d be playing until I was 27. It can go by in a blink of a eye, so you have to enjoy it.”
Golden first pitches
PIAA wrestling champions Nick Salamone and Aubre Krazer of Easton, Whitehall’s Willmont Kai and Palisades’ Savannah Witt threw out first pitches prior to the game.
Krazer (130 pounds) and Witt (118), both seniors, each repeated as state girls gold medalists.
Kai won the PIAA Class 3A 114-pound boys title, Whitehall’s second state champion. Salamone won 3A gold at 121. Both are juniors.
How they scored
Bottom 3: Buddy Kennedy hit a 390-foot solo home run, his first of the season and the IronPigs’ first in hte last five games, came on a 0-1 pitch with two outs. IronPigs 1-0.
Bottom 4: Garrett Stubbs’ second homer of the year, a solo shot, came on the first pitch from Velasquez. Rodolfo Castro followed with a walk, stole second and scored on Erick Brito’s single to center. IronPigs 3-0.
Bottom 6: Erick Brito doubled to lead off, took third on Rafael Lantigua’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Cade Fergus’ two-out infield single. IronPigs 4-0.
Top 8: Brennan singled and took third on Milan Tolentino’s double against reliever Devin Sweet. Both scored on Johnathan Rodriguez’s double off the wall in right. After Micah Pries walked to load the bases, Kody Huff moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Dom Nunez’s grounder scored Rodriguez. Petey Halpin walked to reload the bases and chase Sweet. Yordys Valdes’ bloop single off Joel Kuhnel scored Pries. Tied at 4.
Top 10: Pinch runner/ghost runner Justin Boyd took third on Huff’s single and scored on Nunez’s sacrifice fly to left. Clippers 5-4.
Bottom 10: Ghost runner Rodolfo took third on Erick Brito’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Lantigua’s sacrifice fly. Justin Crawford doubled and scored on Cade Fergus’ two-run home run, a 428-footer that was his first in Triple-A. IronPigs 7-5.
Notes
— Kennedy, a night after his nine-game hitting streak ended, doubled with two outs in the first. He then homered in the third to start the scoring.
— Otto Kemp was not in the starting lineup after being there in the first 23 games of the season. He set a franchise record Tuesday by being hit by a pitch four times, then was hit below the belt on a swipe tag at second base Wednesday.
— Crawford’s 10th-inning double extended his hitting streak to seven games.
— Former IronPigs/Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez allowed three runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. He struck out two, allowed two home runs, threw a wild pitch and 45 of 81 pitches for strikes. He has a 6.00 ERA in four starts this season for Columbus.
Up next
RHP Kyle Tyler (1-2, 3.98 ERA) faces Columbus LHP Will Dion (0-1, 3.09) in a 7:05 p.m. first pitch Friday at Coca-Cola Park. Tyler allowed three earned runs in each of his last two starts, both losses.
Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
Source: Berkshire mont