The baby-face photo might be ‘embarrassing,’ but Brandon Marsh loves having his mom there for support
Sonja Marsh hasn't missed a playoff game and has sported some unique merch to show her support of her son.
![The Phillies’ Brandon Marsh speaks to the media ahead of Game 7 of the NLCS.](https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/Y92Gq_qSyKOUyU5xgOMpdVEfRMg=/760x507/smart/filters:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/CJGWN5TREBHWVOZAC3GXSMF6XI.jpg)
Sonja Marsh hasn’t missed a single one of her son Brandon’s postseason games.
And she has repped some unique merch to show her support. On Monday during Game 6, Sonja was shown on the Phillies broadcast wearing a huge pin featuring a baby-faced Brandon Marsh.
″I would say it’s a bit embarrassing, but that’s what I looked like without all this,” Brandon said, gesturing to his trademark beard. “But, no, I love it. It’s all fun. She loves it, too, so that’s all that matters.”
The 25-year-old Phillies left fielder texted his mother Tuesday morning for a pump-up before Game 7 of the National League Championship Series against the Diamondbacks.
“She’s awesome. She’s my best supporter, and I love that she’s here for all of this,” he said.
Marsh went into Tuesday’s game batting .343 this postseason, second highest among the Phillies’ everyday starters. While Marsh, a left-handed hitter, has historically had difficulty against lefty pitchers, he’s hitting .500 against them in the playoffs. It’s a small sample size — only six plate appearances — but Marsh, who had a 39% strikeout rate against lefties this season, has yet to strike out.
“Right now, he’s not chasing much. He’s using the entire field, and he’s getting the bat head out in front,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s not late. So his timing is good. He’s seeing the ball, and he’s using the field.”
But if the Phillies advance, Sonja would have a tough decision to make. Brandon’s sister Erin, a heptathlete, will be representing the U.S. at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. The heptathlon event runs from Nov. 1-2, and would conflict with potential World Series Games 4-6.
“My mother will be [in Chile] for that because she can’t miss that,” Brandon said. “It’s cool. She has two of her kids that she can go watch and do some pretty cool stuff. I’m just glad she’s able to do that.”
Erin, 24, was an All-American at Duke, and is ranked 60th in the world in women’s heptathlon.
“We’ve pushed each other our whole lives,” Brandon said. “She would come to football practice and race all the guys and stuff like that, and beat us. It was always super competitive growing up, but that’s the way we like it. I feel like that’s what got us to where we are today.”