What Jakob Marsee does, he does very, very well. Can he do enough of what he doesn’t do well to be successful in the upper levels?
- Born: June 28, 2001
- B/T: Left/Left
- 6’0″, 180-lbs
- Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Central Michigan University
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
Marsee was drafted and he immediately went to work. He put up good production in Rookie ball, highlighted by an absurdly high walk rate. Shame about the power.
Then he deservedly jumped to A ball, and now it’s pure green across the board. He continues walking more than he strikes out, he showed power, he stole bases, he got on base.
So he starts 2023 in High-A, and in fact spends almost the whole season there. The power backs up a bit, but everything else is looking good at this new level.
Late in the year he gets a taste of Double-A, and again he is productive and the power is good, even if it’s not great.
But I have to say his Hard Hit % was only 18.4% this year, and that’s very low. He got his ISO into good range, but he’s not hitting the ball hard very often.
Monthly Splits
We see the ISO bounce all over the place, but what he does well — get on base — is pristine. The man simply gets a mid-teens walk rate in his sleep, and he took one look at that May strikeout rate and hung his head in shame.
Handedness K% and BB%
(vs RH): 15%K and 17%BB. (vs LH): 20%K and 17%BB.
Heh. No matter who he faces, he walks 17% of the time, period.
OK, so he does slightly worse against lefties when it comes to striking out, but you’d take a 20% strikeout rate any day of the week and a double-header on Sunday.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #307 on their Top 400
- Fantrax: Not on their Top 400
- RotoProspects: #312 on Top 500
- Toolshed Fantasy ($): Not on Top 500
- PARSlist ($): 75.2 (42nd batter)
- PLIVE+: 125 (43rd batter)
Warnings
He’s not a top prospect. And he really doesn’t have enough power to hit more than, say, a dozen HRs a season.
And he hasn’t played enough at Double-A other than to say he got a good start, let’s see how he does there in 2024.
Conclusion
If you like sluggers, turn away, this isn’t for you. But if you like OBP machines, Marsee might be your guy. The key will be how much power he shows in the upper levels. If he never hits the ball hard, the really good pitchers will simply blow it past him sooner or later.
On the other hand, getting on base and stealing bases is what Marsee does. If he can tackle Double-A and Triple-A satisfactorily, the Padres might have a nice leadoff hitter on their hands. A faster Steven Kwan?