Inside What’s Unlocked the Best Version of Jakob Marsee

He is more in his legs with his hands higher, which has eliminated some variables in his swing. The setup that he had seen good results with previously just wasn’t putting him in a position for success as consistently. His operation is more tightly wound, making it easier to streamline his moves and utilize his lower half more effectively.

“Once  I was struggling, I realized that my hands weren’t necessarily getting to the same place every time. It was a lot more movement,” Marsee said. “ I’m a stiffer guy in general in the way I move, so I didn’t need this big move or anything. So just toning that down.”

That added variable can create a disconnect between the lower half and upper body in a hitter’s load, and at times, it seemed like that was exactly what was happening with Marsee. The angle of the bat as he loads his hands is key as well. Not only does the bat not have to travel as far in his load, but his bat is in a position as he strides that makes it is much easier to get on plane early.

Between getting on plane early and training the ability to stay in the zone longer, Marsee has seen huge gains in his production against pitchers’ secondary offerings. Referring back to the side-by-side video above, you can see this in the angle of the bat as it approaches the baseball when you compare the two swings.

Another area where the adjustments have helped Marsee drastically is in left-on-left matchups. With his contact window so much wider and timing more consistent, he has hit southpaws as well as ever.

In 2024 between Double- and Triple-A, Marsee hit just .162/.273/.252 against left-handed pitching. In 2025 at the big league level alone, he is hitting .333/.391/.596 in a 64-plate appearance sample size. While he is not likely to sustain those numbers, his success in such matchups paints a different picture than the guy who seemed destined to be sheltered from lefties in 2024.

Feeling like he is more consistently on time while also being able to cover more difficult pitches has allowed Marsee to lean further into a strength of his, patience in the box.

“At times last year in Double-A, I would get the two strikes and say ‘here we go again’. This year, if I’m in a two strike count, I really don’t care. I trust myself to be able to hit with it,” Marsee said.

Of players who have at least 150 plate appearances this season, Marsee paces MLB with an OPS of .844 when down to his last strike. The next closest is Alex Bregman and Jorge Polanco at .762 and .759, respectively.

Marsee’s two-strike numbers will likely come back down to earth over a larger sample size. For reference, the league-wide OPS with two strikes in 2025 is .515, so even with some normalization, Marsee is still likely to be far better than his peers when down in the count.

The Long-term Outlook

Through his first 46 career big league games, Marsee is slashing .320/.392/.535 with five homers, 24 extra-base hits, 12 stolen bases and 2.4 fWAR. On a 162-game basis, that scales out to 18 homers, 85 extra base hits, 42 stolen bases and 8.5 fWAR. As impressive as Marsee has been and as tangible as the adjustments are, it’s unlikely that he will extrapolate that production over the course of 162. After all, those are MVP-candidate numbers.

However, what is likely at this point, is that Marsee will be an above average regular for the Marlins in center field. While some questioned his ability to stick up the middle, Marsee has always graded out as an above-average defender in Just Baseball’s scouting reports dating back to his time in the Padres organization and he has only become more comfortable out there.

In a little over 300 innings in center field, Marsee has accumulated three Outs Above Average, paired with 77th percentile Arm Strength, according to Baseball Savant.

Assuming Marsee’s .535 slugging percentage gives way a little bit over a larger sample, he has clearly proven himself as a player whose value comes from the sum of his parts. And with the drastic increase in batted ball quality, he has at least shored up what was once a perceived weakness.

A knack for finding the barrel, strong plate discipline, good speed and solid defense in a premium position, it’s difficult to poke a hole in Marsee’s game at this point. All of a sudden, a team that has done a lot of penciling in and erasing when it comes to the outfield can sharpie another guy in alongside Kyle Stowers as a building block for the future.