The Jakob Marsee Era Is Upon Us
After being selected in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres, Marsee began his professional career hitting .240 with a .839 OPS across two levels in the Padres system. Then, in his first full season in professional baseball, he slashed .274/.413/.428, ranking ninth in all of Minor League Baseball with 103 runs scored, 46 stolen bases, 16 home runs, all while striking out at nearly the exact rate he was walking (17.1% K% / 17.3% BB%).
While the overall numbers since he has been in the Marlins organization do not stand out, it’s what he was doing in the two months before his call-up that made the decision to bring him to Miami justifiable. Since the beginning of June, Marsee was hitting .289 with 11 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and a .977 OPS in 46 games played. What truly stands out about Marsee’s profile is the impressive contact rates that he has been able to keep consistent during his professional career.
Courtesy of FanGraphs
His contact percentage has never been below 80% during a full season in the minors. All this while limiting the chase percentage as well. While the contact rate has fallen a bit since his debut in Miami, which is expected, he has still been able to limit his chase rate to just over 14%, which is a testament to his overall IQ at the plate and above-average swing decision, which is something we have heard the Marlins prioritize multiple times since the offseason.
Dating back to the draft process, Marsee was lauded for his ability to make consistent contact no matter the situation and provide the top-of-the-order potential that every team looks for. This is something that his spray chart so far can surely attest to.
Courtesy of Baseball Savant
The biggest boost to the Marlins, however, could come defensively. It has been quite the experiment in South Florida to figure out who could emerge as the “savior” for their center field woes they’ve seemingly always had. They’ve had the Marcell Ozuna experiment for a couple of years, a season of Christian Yelich before they traded him, and he was replaced by the main piece in the return of that trade in Lewis Brinson. Starling Marte proved to be serviceable before he was also moved. We can’t forget the clunkiness that Jesús Sanchez brought with him in 2022. All to be rounded up by Jazz’s transition from the infield to the outfield before he was then traded.
Needless to say, they desperately needed someone like Marsee to emerge.