Brandon Marsh saving Shohei Ohtani reminds Angels of how elite he's been on defense

In the fifth inning of Shohei Ohtani's dominant Thursday night start against the Seattle Mariners, Brandon Marsh made a highlight reel web gem that prevented at LEAST a single off the bat of J.P. Crawford to halt the LA Angels' momentum in the game.

Again, the Halos were up 2-0, and Ohtani was absolutely shoving on the bump. He had only allowed three hits on the day and walked just one. He had punched out five. The Mariners needed a clutch base hit from one of their best players. Marsh wasn't having it though.

Marsh hasn't been having it all season when it comes to other guys getting on and scoring runs. He hasn't made an error all year. He has SIX Defensive Runs Saved this year...Remember that the Halos have only played 65 games all season (stats in article are written as of after that game). He's been elite with the glove this year.

Brandon Marsh's highlight during Shohei Ohtani's start sums up who he's been defensively for the LA Angels this season.

And 65 games isn't a tiny sample size for Brandon Marsh's defense with the LA Angels in 2022. It's worth remembering that Marsh was known for his defense throughout his time in the Minors. His speed is more than evident in the outfield and he has the arm to play center and right too.

In his career, he's made a total of one error in 125 games--he does pretty great out there. Now, it's time to fix his offense, and it's more than doable. He's already improved from where he was last year. His slugging percentage is up 18 points to .374, his OPS is up a couple of points to .675, and his OPS+ is up nine points at 94.

In 13 less games than what he had in his rookie year last year, he already has triple the home runs he had last year (he's at six right now), and 11 more RBIs than he had last year (he's at 30 right now). He's progressing, and always seems to find ways to prove his dominant defense too; like he did on Thursday night.