Jakob

Marsee

Marsee, 23, was one of the prospects the Marlins received from the Padres for Luis Arraez in May. He was hitting just .188/.342/.303 in 91 games for Pensacola, though he did have 32 steals. If he gets back to hitting for a decent average, he’ll get a look in the Marlins outfield sometime next season.

Marsee was a sixth-round pick by the Padres back in 2022, and while he has struggled in 2024 with Double-A San Antonio with an OPS of just .654, the 22-year-old was ranked as one of the better outfield prospects in the system; largely thanks to his defensive acumen. He could see time with Miami before 2024 comes to a close, but the offense will obviously have to take a big step up for that to happen.

With Manny Machado likely to start the season as the team’s designated hitter, Batten was in the conversation to play some third base early in the season. That will apparently not be happening. The same goes for prospect Jakob Marsee who was battling with Graham Pauley and Jackson Merrill for an outfield opportunity. Perhaps he’ll get another shot during the season.

As Rosenthal mentions, the trade of Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees left the Padres with just two outfielders on their 40-man roster: Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Azocar. However, rather than go out and acquire an outfielder, the team seems likely to try out a handful of prospects who are blocked in the infield and see if any of them can make the move full-time to the outfield. Merrill was the 27th overall pick in 2021 and while he has played primarily infield in his pro career, he played outfield in the minors and the Arizona Fall League. Fellow infielder Graham Pauley is also being auditioned in the outfield, as is Jakob Marsee, who was the MVP of the Arizona Fall League and last season became the first minor leaguer to produce a season of 15 homers, 90 walks and 40 stolen bases since at least 2005. Marsee has only played 16 games at Double-A, while Pauley played 20 and Merrill played 46, so it would be a big jump for all three players, but the opportunity is there is one of them shines in the spring.

The 22-year-old outfielder — out of Central Michigan University — has slashed a scintillating .391/.509/.707 with five homers, 20 RBI, 16 stolen bases (in 19 attempts) and a 25/21 K/BB ratio over 118 plate appearances with the Peoria Javelinas. He finished the 2023 campaign with a 16-game stint at Double-A San Antonio, which is where he should be slated to begin the 2024 season.

Marsee leads the AFL in hits with 27, including four homers, in just 17 games so far. The 22-year-old is also tied for the league-lead in the stolen base department with 12 thefts. He spent most of this season at High-A Fort Wayne, but closed out the year by getting into 16 contests for Double-A San Antonio.

The 22-year-old outfielder’s fantastic week with the Peoria Javelinas continued Saturday night when he went 3-for-6, with a double and a triple while driving in two runs as Peoria’s leadoff hitter. Marsee was selected in the sixth round of the 2022 June Amateur draft by the San Diego Padres and hit .274/.413/.728 with 16 homers and 46 stolen bases across High-A and Double-A this season. He has superb bat-to-ball skills, as evidenced by a below-seven percent swinging strike rate in his first season in professional ball. He will likely begin the 2024 season at Double-A before he is ready to make his debut around 2025.