Marsee Beaucoup
Jakob Marsee (MIA): 2-4, R, RBI, SB.
We are in the dog days of the summer. It’s that stretch where, if you are lucky enough to be in the hunt in deep leagues, you are simply chasing playing time. Unless you know the minor leagues up and down, you’ll probably find yourself eyeing someone you had not the slightest clue about in April. Enter Jakob Marsee. A sixth-round pick out of Central Michigan University three years ago, Marsee landed in Miami last May in the deal that sent Luis Arraez to San Diego. The Marlins promoted Marsee from Triple-A Jacksonville last Thursday, and he has done nothing but hit since. Two more hits last night have him slashing .450/.577/.850. I’m no soothsayer, but I have a hunch those rates might not stick.
However, Marsee’s production in the minors suggests someone who should be on the radar, and perhaps not just deep leagues. He only hit ten home runs last season, but he swiped 51 bags on 58 attempts while getting on base at a .345 clip thanks to a 15.3% walk rate. This year, he swiped 47 bags on 60 attempts and hit 14 home runs with a 125 wRC+ across 429 PAs with Triple-A Jacksonville. His 15.9% walk rate and 18.9% strikeout rate looked pretty good. He hasn’t hit higher than sixth, yet, but he has the look of a potential table setter. I’ll take a chance on that, thank you very much.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:
Colby Thomas (ATH): 1-1, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Thomas, a third-round pick out of Mercer three years ago and the A’s fourth-ranked prospect, kick-started the A’s 6-0 win with his first home run, a two-run jack to left-center off Mitchell Parker (406 feet, 107.6 EV). The 24-year-old righty hammered 49 home runs over the past two years with Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas, fourth-best among all minor leaguers. However, he entered the game with a 54.3% strikeout rate over his first 35 plate appearances in the show. There isn’t any fantasy value here, and he exited after one at-bat, but, hey, first-time home runs are always cool.
Tyler Soderstrom also blasted his 21st for the A’s, going yard on a sweeper from lefty reliever PJ Poulin.
Brooks Baldwin (CHW): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.
Baldwin’s sixth dinger of the year was a game-tying shot in the seventh off Carlos Vargas (361 feet, 96.4 EV). He is striking out a lot (27.9%) and hitting ninth for the Sox. What? You’re not excited? Anyway, he has seven hits in his last five games and has played all over the diamond, including 10 games at second base and shortstop, eight at third base, and 40 in the outfield, so he could be a stopgap in AL-only leagues.
Luis Robert Jr. (CHW): 3-4, 2B, BB, SB.
Granted, there is still some time for Robert to go gangbusters, but I wonder where he will fall in drafts next year. …Or maybe he gets traded in the offseason and things suddenly look different? Anyways, the past two seasons have been painful with him slashing .222/.289/.371 over 790 plate appearances. But he’s better than that, right? Right?!? I think so. At the very least, the 31 stolen bases, eight more than his previous career high, have salvaged his value. And, yeah, I suppose the dip in strikeout rate from 33.2% to 27.7% is another silver lining.
Drake Baldwin (ATL): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
Hey, look at that: another Baldwin, only this one is a lot more interesting. Sorry, Brooks! Drake hadn’t gone yard since July 9th. But fear not, all he needed was some batting practice from Eury Pérez. I’m kidding, Pérez is awesome, he just didn’t have his best last night. Drake’s 12th started the scoring, a 404-foot solo shot to right-center on a thigh-high, 98 mph heater. His second tater came on an elevated 0-2 heater from Pérez in the sixth; the three-run shot got Atlanta back to within a run. He added an RBI single in the seventh off lefty reliever Josh Simpson. You don’t need me to tell you Baldwin is awesome, but I will anyway. He has demonstrated power to all fields, a sub-20% strikeout rate, and PLV adores him (118 Process+). Baldwin entered the night with a 128 wRC+, which would rank second among qualified catchers and fourth among qualified rookies. He might lose an at-bat here or there against left-handers, but otherwise, I can’t think of a single reason not to be thrilled about him the rest of the way. He’s making a big push for the NL Rookie of the Year.
Matt McLain (CIN): 2-4.
To the surprise of no one, Paul Skenes shut out the Reds over six innings; he surrendered seven hits, two from McLain. Like Robert, it is a good thing McLain has been active on the basepaths; otherwise, we would be staring at a .227 batting average and a 79 wRC+, and wondering what happened to the former top prospect whom we thought was destined for stardom just two years ago. In fairness, I think you have to wonder how much the shoulder has affected his swing because he just isn’t impacting the baseball the same way he did as a rookie (97 Power+). In that sense, he could be a bounce-back candidate next year, given that he will be another offseason removed from surgery.
Andrew McCutchen (PIT): 0-1, R, 4 BB.
Yeah, I know he isn’t fantasy relevant anymore, but four walks always get my heart racing. And besides, Cutch is and always will be one of the best dudes baseball has ever seen. Fun fact: his .333 OBP leads all Pirates with at least 300 plate appearances this season.
Bryan Reynolds (PIT): 2-4, HR, R, RBI, BB.
Reynolds entered last night’s game against the Reds with a career-low 84 wRC+ (excluding 2020). Nonetheless, he started the scoring in last night’s 7-0 win over the Reds with his 11th dinger of the year, going oppo on a 94 mph heater from Brady Singer (391 feet, 106.5 EV). Reynolds has struck out a lot this year, 26.8% being the highest since 2020. PLV backs the sentiment with an 83 Contact Ability+. However, PLV also thinks that Reynolds still has some thump in his bat, his 116 Power+ being about a standard deviation above league average. Maybe, just maybe, he can end the season on a high note.
Jorge Polanco (SEA): 1-3, 2 BB.
Veterans often get overlooked once they go dormant for a while. But Polanco has slowly started to come back to the land of the living. Since July 1st, he has hit .271 with seven dingers and a .905 OPS. Polanco’s 97 Power+ indicates his torrid April was a mirage. Still, his 119 Contact+ suggests he could post a solid batting average and be a helpful source of RBIs the rest of the way.
Randy Arozarena (SEA): 1-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Arozarena started the scoring at T-Mobile by smacking a 3-2 curveball from righty Shane Smith into the seats for a two-run shot in the bottom of the third. So that’s 23 for the 2020 ALCS MVP, tying a career-high from two years ago. He is striking out a touch more than you’d like (89 Contact Ability+). However, PLV otherwise corroborates Arozarena’s big year, including a career-best .816 OPS, one point ahead of his rookie 2021 season, with a 114 Power+ and 111 Process+.
Marcell Ozuna (ATL): 3-4, HR, R, RBI.
Ozuna has ridden the pine a lot with the Braves in evaluation mode. However, he hit cleanup last night (Sean Murphy sat) and went back-to-back with Baldwin in the first, socking a sweeper from Eury Pérez into the left field seats (404 feet, 99 EV). It has been an odd season for Ozuna. The power hasn’t been there, this being his 16th in 434 PAs. But his 17.2% walk rate trails only Juan Soto among qualified hitters. Ozuna’s 119 Process+ and 110 Power+ suggest he could still be worthwhile in daily lineup leagues, but I can’t blame you if you would rather cut bait and let someone else worry about his playing time.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire | Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky
