MIAMI, FL — Although Italy was eliminated by Venezuela in the semifinal round of the World Baseball Classic on Monday night, this tournament was definitely a successful step for the country. This was the furthest that Italy has ever advanced in the WBC, a run that included five consecutive wins and an upset of Team USA during pool play. Miami Marlins outfielder Jakob Marsee was able to soak it all in as their starting center fielder.
Marsee, who was participating in his first WBC, has grandparents of Italian descent on both sides of his family, which made him eligible to participate.
“It’s been amazing,” Marsee told Fish On First prior to Monday’s game. “The atmosphere has been electric everywhere I’ve been. We’ve been the away team most of the time wherever we’ve gone, but it’s been a lot of fun playing in these packed crowds. We’re making a lot of noise early, and getting to play baseball that means something this early is a lot of fun.”
Heading into the 2026 season, the Marlins have one of Major League Baseball’s youngest rosters. Every hitter on their 40-man roster is still in their 20s (Marsee is 24), and even their coaching staff has very limited MLB playing experience. That’s why in the two weeks he spent around Team Italy, Marsee found it valuable to speak with veterans like Jon Berti and Vinnie Pasquantino.
“They’ve been around and they’re successful at what they do. I wanna play this game a long time and try to find out what makes them click each year.”
The Italian club was managed by Francisco Cervelli, who himself spent 13 seasons in the majors. The former catcher’s final season as a player came with the 2020 Marlins.
“Jakob is one of our best players, and I’ve known that from the start,” Cervelli said pregame. “He’s someone who wants to play every day no matter what. I’ve tried to give him a day off his feet and put him in as the designated hitter, but he doesn’t want that—he wants to play center field. He has truly impressed me, and I think the Marlins have a future star.”
Marsee’s insistence on remaining in center field paid off in the top of the first inning against Venezuela. With one out and Maikel Garcia on first base, Luis Arraez lined out to Marsee, who noticed Garcia was nearly all the way down to second. Marsee fired a 90.5 mph throw to Pasquantino to turn an inning-ending double play.
It marked Marsee’s second outfield assist of the tournament, both coincidentally with Aaron Nola on the mound.
In six WBC games, Marsee posted a .174/.345/.217 slash line. His five walks were tied for the second-highest total on the team.
Marsee will return to Marlins spring training camp on Wednesday, according to manager Clayton McCullough.
In the meantime, Tuesday’s WBC championship game is set between the United States and Venezuela. Nolan McLean (New York Mets) will start for Team USA, while Venezuela will go with veteran left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (Arizona Diamondbacks). With a Venezuelan victory, Javier Sanoja would join Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich (2017) as the only Marlins players to ever win a WBC title. First pitch will be shortly after 8:00 p.m. ET.