DETROIT -- Forty-two of Alec Marsh’s 58 professional outings since being drafted by the Royals in 2019 have come with Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Safe to say, he was ready for a change of scenery.

Last week, the Royals’ No. 14 prospect got the call up to Triple-A Omaha, a change of scenery and breath of fresh air. Marsh’s first start was largely a success, allowing just one run in five innings with four walks and six strikeouts.

“It was exciting,” Marsh said. “I definitely thought I earned it a little more than last year when they called me up. I started off the year pretty good in Double-A this year, and everything in between starts with getting really consistent has been good.”

This season has been a needed turnaround for Marsh. After the 2020 pandemic season erased his first full pro season, Marsh was hurt in ’21 and still not right in ’22, when he posted a 7.32 ERA in Double-A (a 6.88 ERA overall after two starts in Omaha).

“When you see so much of the same stuff for years over and over, it can beat you down a little bit,” Marsh said. “I had a way better approach this year than I did last year coming back to Double-A, just trying to be present and taking it one day at a time. Last year was a good thing for me, because I learned a lot from it. Knowing I can bounce back from that kind of failure and continue to get better.”

Assessing his season of struggles was not easy, but Marsh did not want to go through what he felt like last year again. So, he attacked the mental component of his game this past offseason. Working with mental coaches, Marsh found other outlets like reading and journaling -- which he did often when he was pitching well at Arizona State -- that have helped him away from the field.

“I wanted to find any edge I could, wanted to find a routine where I could counteract the feeling I had last year,” Marsh said. “And knowing if I get into that headspace, how to reverse it and get into a better headspace. ... It’s helped me enjoy my life a lot better outside of the field. I’m not just waiting to get to the field every day. That’s what I was doing last year, and it put me in a really bad place.”

Marsh attacked this year with a different mindset, leading to a much better -- though not without its bumps -- start at Northwest Arkansas, the place Marsh has called home for the past two-plus seasons. In 11 starts, he posted a 5.32 ERA there, with a couple of short starts ballooning that ERA. The Royals were pleased with Marsh’s stuff and the consistency of it, bumping him to Triple-A, where more challenges -- but new challenges -- await.

Because Marsh is on the 40-man roster and now one level away from the Majors, he could see time in Kansas City later this season, especially as the Royals continue to evaluate young talent.

“I worked hard this offseason on controlling what I can control, and being present in the moment has helped a lot,” Marsh said. “It helped that the other guys I was pitching with were doing well too, like [Anthony] Veneziano and [Jonathan] Bowlan. Success gets contagious. When a guy goes out there and picks you up after a bad start, you want to do the same thing the next time for him.”

Royals prospect roundup

• Along with Marsh, two others got the call to Triple-A last week: righty Will Klein and outfielder John Rave. Klein, the Royals’ No. 22 prospect, was electric in his debut, striking out five in two innings on June 14. Rave has gone 10-for-22 in six games since his callup, with four doubles, eight RBIs and an inside-the-park home run. In a related note, the Storm Chasers have won 11 straight games.
• In High-A Quad Cities, righty Chandler Champlain continued his run of dominance with seven scoreless innings on Friday night, shrinking his ERA to 2.74 for the 23-year-old. A promotion to Double-A seems likely for the No. 24 prospect soon.
• Check out this feature from the Royals’ player development account featuring Triple-A catcher Logan Porter and his amazing journey to professional baseball.