Trade of Logan O’Hoppe for Brandon Marsh is looking like a win-win for Phillies and Angels

In making multiple deals at the trade deadline last summer, the Phillies addressed their two most immediate needs: a mid-rotation starter and another late-inning reliever. But Noah Syndergaard and David Robertson always felt like short-term pickups, two-month rentals to help with a playoff push before moving on to play elsewhere this year.

Ultimately, the success of Dave Dombrowski’s deadline was always going to hinge on a third trade. And nine months later, Logan O’Hoppe-for-Brandon Marsh is as intriguing as ever.

To recap: With O’Hoppe’s path to the majors as an everyday catcher blocked by J.T. Realmuto, the Phillies flipped him to the Los Angeles Angels for Marsh, an athletic outfielder but raw hitter who was known as much for his soaring strikeout rate as his bushy beard and long, wet hair. It was an old-fashioned baseball trade. One-for-one. Young player-for-young player. A need-for-a need.

It’s also looking like a win-win.

» READ MORE: Why Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh are keys to the Phillies’ making a big jump in 2023

OK, so the verdict is a long way from being rendered. But O’Hoppe has started 13 of the Angels’ first 16 games behind the plate, including Shohei Ohtani’s four starts, and shares the team lead with four homers, one more than both Ohtani and Mike Trout. The 23-year-old former 23rd-round draft pick is drawing praise for his rapport with pitchers. Over the weekend, Angels manager Phil Nevin credited O’Hoppe with helping Reid Detmers through a tight spot in a solid start in Boston.

“His leadership, I’ve said that since Day 1,” Nevin told reporters. “He sees things on the field as a rookie that most don’t at his age or at this stage in their careers. He saw a little something with Reid and got him back to where he needed to be.”

None of this is surprising to Phillies officials, most of whom were bullish about O’Hoppe after witnessing his progress in the minors. But they also don’t regret trading him because Marsh, 25, is off to a blazing start. How hot? Try this: 17-for-45 (.378) with a 1.196 on-base plus slugging. He leads the team with 10 extra-base hits and the league with three triples.

And with the Phillies’ series opener against the White Sox Monday in Chicago getting postponed by wintry weather, Marsh’s improvement, especially at the plate, was worth a closer examination.

“It’s incredible,” manager Rob Thomson said over the weekend in Cincinnati, where Marsh had a four-hit game in Sunday’s 14-3 victory over the Reds. “We saw it almost immediately. It wasn’t too long after we got him that we started to see improvement. He’s continued that work, and he’s getting better at it as time goes on.”

On Marsh’s first day with the Phillies last August, hitting coach Kevin Long got him to widen his stance and eliminate his stride to improve his timing. There have been other adjustments since then.

» READ MORE: There’s ‘more to give’ for Brandon Marsh as a hitter, and the Phillies are up to the challenge

The difference is stark. With the Angels, Marsh stood upright at the plate with his legs close together and the bat on his shoulder. With the Phillies, he’s crouched more in the left-handed batter’s box with his legs spread apart and bent, and his hands positioned higher.

It’s a complete overhaul. It’s also working. Marsh’s barrel rate — the percentage of balls hit with an exit velocity of at least 98 mph and a launch angle of 26 to 30 degrees — is up to 12.1% from 7.4% last season.

“When we first got him last year, it was ridiculous how few balls he pulled in the air,” Thomson said. “Because he was running at the ball. So, the ball’s coming, his head’s moving, and he could never get out in front. He’d smother it and hit ground balls [to the right side] but couldn’t get the ball in the air. Now he can. Now he’s staying back. He can get the barrel to it, and now he’s starting to pull balls. I don’t think there’s any other secret potion.”

Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

“It does,” Thomson said. “But it’s not. Because it’s habit. It’s a habit that he created over time, and so, to change the habit, it takes a lot of reps.”

Marsh brings another element to the Phillies’ lineup: energy. He oozes it with the way he runs the bases, plays the outfield, and interacts with teammates, notably gesturing at the dugout after big hits and often barking like a dog.

» READ MORE: How Nick Castellanos’ time in Cincinnati — and a meeting with a Reds icon — helped set him up for Year 2 with the Phillies

“It’s like that football mentality that I grew up on,” said Marsh, a standout wide receiver in high school in Georgia. “I feel like I bring the energy every day. It’s one of those things where, psyching all the boys up and psyching myself up to go out to war. It’s been fun screaming out there, and I’m thankful that the guys in here, Topper [Thomson], they let me be myself. I feel like that helps with performance out there.”

So far, though, almost all of Marsh’s at-bats have come against right-handed pitching. Never mind that Thomson indicated in spring training that he planned to play Marsh against lefties, too, especially after the Phillies traded righty-hitting outfielder Matt Vierling in the offseason.

The Phillies have faced a left-handed starter in five of the first 16 games. Marsh has started only one of those, with Thomson opting for light-hitting Cristian Pache. But Marsh is 4-for-13 (.308) with three doubles and a homer in his limited exposure to lefties after going 18-for-96 (.188) with 44 strikeouts against them last year.

At this rate, Marsh will force Thomson to play him every day. After all, the Phillies didn’t trade O’Hoppe for a platoon player.

“I have full confidence in him, and [Bryson] Stott, against lefties,” Thomson said. “Those guys are having good at-bats.”

Marsh’s have been as good as any Phillies hitter, and the early returns on a fascinating deadline trade continue to get better, too.