Jacob Marisnick: 2020 Mets Outfielder

Jacob Shawn Marisnick was born on March 30th 1991 in Riverside, California. The six foot, four 220 lb. outfielder was a star baseball player & football, wide receiver at Polytechnic High School. He attended the University of Oregon, on a full baseball scholarship. 

He is a fine defensive outfielder with a strong arm, he has good speed on the field & on the base paths.

Marisnick was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the third round of the 2009 MLB draft. He received a huge $1 million signing bonus, almost double what players were getting at his position. 

After three years in the Toronto organization, he was involved in a huge 12 player trade that sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle & Josh Johnson to the Blue Jays. Marisnick & six others went to the Miami Marlins.

He got promoted to the Marlins big league team along with Christian Yelich in July of 2013. He saw playing action right away, on July 31st he hit his first career HR, it came off Jenry Mejia & the New York Mets. In 40 games he batted just .183 & started 2014 at AAA New Orleans. 

He was brought back up in June & then traded to the Houston Astros on the trade deadline. In 51 games with the Astros he batted .272 with 3 HRs & 19 RBIs. 

He made the first of five straight Opening Day starts in 2015. He was the Astros main centerfielder that year,  displaying great defense, making 8 assists & turning 3 double plays ( both were 5th most for AL outfielders). 

Marisnick's speed saw him steal 24 bases (8th in the AL), but hit just .236 with 9 HRs in 133 games. The Astros finished second, beat the AL New York team in the Wild Card Game but lost the ALDS to the Kansas City Royals. They also acquired Carlos Gomez who became their regular centerfielder.

In 2016 he was sent down to AAA after a bad start, getting recalled by early May. Gomez was eventually designated for assignment & Marisnick split time in center with Tony Kemp. He batted .209 & stole 10 bases in parts of 118 games. He made eight outfield assists for the second straight year, third most in 2016 in the NL.

In the Astros 2017 Championship season, he had his best year hitting 16 HRs 10 doubles 35 RBIs with a .243 average. In mid September, he went down with injury that kept him out of all postseason action. 

In 2018 he made another demotion to the minors but returned quickly. Overall he batted just .211. 

Post Season: In the post season he was used mostly for defensive purposes going 0-5 overall, as the Astros beat the Indians in the ALDS & lost to the eventual World Champion Boston Red Sox in the ALCS.

In 2019 he played in 120 games, seeing a lot of action later in games for his fine defense. In 292 at bats, he batted .233 with 10 HRs 16 doubles & 34 RBIs while stealing 10 bases in 13 attempts. 

On Field Dramas: On July 7th in Houston, Marisnick collided with LA Angels catcher Jonathon Lucroy in a play at home plate. Matsnick was ruled out, as Lucroy suffered a broken nose & concussion. As a result with the new soft rules in MLB, Marisnick was suspended for two games. 

The next week, he was hit in the back by a pitch that went over his head, by Angels pitcher Noe Ramirez, in a game in Anaheim. Although, Marisnick did not charge the mound, the Astros dugout got into a huge argument with Angels first baseman, Albert Pujols. Benches & bullpens cleared, as Marisnick tried to defuse the situation. The result had Ramirez & Angels manager, Brad Asmus ejected & suspended.

2019 Post Season: He was used in three games of the ALDS against the Tampa Rays as a defensive replacement. The same in the ALCS win over the AL New York team, but did get a hit in two at bats in Game #5. 

In the World Series against the Washington Nats, he got the start in Game #4 getting two hits in four at bats. He saw action in four Series games.

Mets Career: On December 5th, 2019 he was traded to the New York Mets for minor leaguers, Blake Taylor & Kenedy Corona. There he joins his old Houston team mate J.D. Davis.

Trivia: Marisnick is known to come to the plate to the music of Jurassic Park.

Personal: Marisnick's long time girlfriend is Brittany Perry. Jacob is known professionally as Jake.