Sunday, August 03

MIAMI -- Marlins No. 10 prospect Jakob Marsee first began picturing what his Major League debut might be like as a sophomore at Central Michigan.

The special occasion finally arrived on Friday night, when the Marlins erased several late deficits to shock the Yankees, 13-12, in front of 32,299 at loanDepot park.

Marsee, who started in center field and batted ninth, walked three times, scored twice and doubled in the seventh inning for his first Major League hit. He was involved in both seventh- and ninth-inning rallies.

• Get a Luis Castillo HoF Bobblehead on Aug. 24

“I think that was way more than I could have ever expected,” Marsee said. “Obviously, I knew it was going to be fun and exciting, but to have a packed house with the Yankees here, everything, it was super cool.”

There had only been one instance since 1901 in which a player making his debut collected one or more doubles and three or more walks in a game: Ray Morehart for the White Sox on Aug. 9, 1924.

Marsee also set club records by reaching base safely four times and tallying three walks in his MLB debut.

“The strike-zone control, the discipline, that came as advertised. He saw the ball beautifully tonight,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He laid off of a lot of tough pitches, worked walks, drove a ball into the gap. It's hard to think about with all the adrenaline and emotion that comes with a Major League debut, and to be able to be as calm as he was in the batter's box tonight, speaks to a lot about [Marsee]. … It's hard for me to think that I've seen somebody come up in their first Major League game like that and just have the at-bat quality that he was able to put together.”

This is exactly what the Marlins envisioned when they acquired Marsee from San Diego in the Luis Arraez trade. He soared into prominence by capturing 2023 Arizona Fall League MVP honors before struggling in ’24 (.661 OPS) between the Double-A and Triple-A levels with the Padres’ and Marlins’ organizations.

“Fast, athletic, well-rounded, good at everything,” president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said before Marsee’s debut. “In all seriousness, though, he is the embodiment of those types of things. Gets on base, hits for power, does all the little things well. It's a really good player.”

When Marsee received an invitation to big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring, he injured his oblique early on and didn’t get a chance to showcase his skill set. At the time of his promotion, Marsee was the Triple-A leader in stolen bases (47) and was third in walks (68). He had a slash line of .246/.379/.438 with 14 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs, 37 RBIs and 56 runs in 98 games.

“Just getting back to being myself,” Marsee said. “I think I put a little bit of pressure on myself and just tried to do too much at times, and that's just not the player I am. I get on base, I run into long balls, but I need to stay within myself. And I got back to doing that, and it really helped me.”

The 24-year-old Marsee, who was scratched from Triple-A Jacksonville’s lineup on Thursday, figured something was up when he was told he hadn’t been traded. So he watched his teammates play from the dugout bench until the staff announced postgame that someone was headed to Miami. It was him.

His parents, two brothers, girlfriend, her dad, a couple of coaches and a couple of close friends made the trip. Marsee got choked up on the drive to the ballpark and later while discussing the support. Baseball has been in his life ever since he filled in for his older brother’s tee-ball team the day before his second birthday.

Marsee was back in center and hitting sixth on Saturday, sharing a lineup with Graham Pauley, who was acquired in the Tanner Scott trade last July. Both were part of San Diego’s 2022 MLB Draft class and expected to play in the big leagues together.

“We thought it'd be with the Padres at the time, but now we get to play for the Marlins and hopefully bring a championship here,” Pauley said. “Super happy for him. Obviously, he's been having a great year. Ever since I've known him, he's always hit. We've always been in the same lineup together. So, it's cool. We've kind of progressed through the system together. But super happy for him. He's a gamer, so he's going to help us win a lot of games.”

Check out this unique angle of Agustín Ramírez’s walk-off grounder from Friday night.

Much of Friday’s comeback victory felt improbable.

Javier Sanoja, the owner of just one long ball in 231 career at-bats, recorded his first multihomer game. Only nine other Major Leaguers with as many ABs had as few taters from 2024-25.

With Miami trailing 6-0 in the fifth, Sanoja lined a two-run opposite-field homer to right off lefty Carlos Rodón’s four-seamer. In the seventh, he pulled David Bednar’s first-pitch four-seamer for a game-tying solo shot. Sanoja capped his career-high-tying three-hit performance with a one-out single in the ninth.

“Don't know if anybody would have him on a bingo card tonight, but he just loves the moment, and whether it's something he does defensively, a big at-bat, he's as tough as anyone we have in that clubhouse,” McCullough said. “Again, you said the energy he brings, for me, such a luxury to have. … He's never afraid, and he's ready for whatever a situation calls.”

• Ramírez hit two homers Saturday as the Marlins took the series vs. his former organization.

• Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera and Anthony Bender stayed put at the Trade Deadline.

• The Marlins received three players in the return for Jesús Sánchez.

• Here’s a breakdown of Miami’s prospect haul at the Deadline.

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