During first month in the majors, Jakob Marsee was as valuable as anybody

[Ely Sussman]

NEW YORK—I have already seen enough from Jakob Marsee to buy out all of his pre-arb and arbitration years, as detailed for Fish On First SuperSubs earlier in the week. While it's premature to label him an MLB star, the rookie outfielder does so many things well, he arguably has the highest floor of any player in the Miami Marlins organization moving forward.

Ironically, Marsee's marvelous August was a disappointing stretch for the Marlins as a whole—they posted a 13-17 record to fall out of the National League postseason picture. It's a reminder that the impact of any individual baseball player is very limited, even when they perform at an MVP level. Without exaggeration, that is what Marsee did during his first month in the big leagues.

Marsee entered Sunday with 1.9 fWAR, tied for the second-best mark among MLB players in August. That total inched up following yet another awesome game, which included a single, a double, two walks and two runs scored. Marsee has been an everyday player for the Marlins since debuting on August 1. He's slashing .352/.430/.629 with four home runs and nine stolen bases, producing nearly twice as well at the plate as the average major leaguer (189 wRC+). On top of all that, he is contributing good defense in center field.

There is zero suspense regarding the upcoming NL Rookie of the Month announcement: that award is going to Marsee.

But what about succeeding fellow Marlin Kyle Stowers as NL Player on the Month? Marsee has made a compelling case for himself. I predict that Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers or Jurickson Profar of the Atlanta Braves will edge him out, solely on the strength of their gaudy home run totals.

More notable numbers about Marsee's first 30 games:

• The only Marlin who has ever surpassed his 66 total bases during any month of their rookie season was Chris Coghlan (the 2009 NL ROY).
• He chased only 15.7% of pitches outside the strike zone, according to Statcast. Among full-season MLB qualifiers in 2025, only Juan Soto has been more disciplined than that.
• Despite exhibiting big platoon splits as a prospect, Marsee raked especially well against fellow lefties (1.292 OPS in 30 PA).
• He's second to Stowers among Marlins hitters with 1.67 win probability added this season. That's right—on a club with a handful of pleasant surprises on the position player side, it took Marsee a single month to leapfrog all of the others.

On the other end of the experience spectrum, Sandy Alcantara wrapped up an encouraging August of his own. The hot-hitting New York Mets had racked up 31 runs on the strength of 11 homers during the previous three games of the series, but they manufactured just one run off Alcantara.

The veteran right-hander leaned more heavily on his fastballs than usual—56.7% of his total pitches were either four-seamers or sinkers. It was Alcantara's fourth quality start in a row. He has had at least six strikeouts in each of those outings.

Even outside of his Cy Young-winning campaign, Alcantara has distinguished himself from the typical starter with his determination to eat as many innings as possible. Nearly two full years removed from Tommy John surgery, it looks like he's got his full appetite back. Alcantara led the NL this month with 39 innings pitched.

 

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The Marlins will play a Labor Day matinee on Monday, opening up a three-game series at Nationals Park. It would have been Ryan Gusto's turn to start, but he's been sidelined with a right shoulder impingement. Expect a bullpen game, with Tyler Phillips, George Soriano and Seth Martinez as options capable of covering multiple innings apiece. Thanks to September roster expansion, the Marlins could also call up one additional pitcher from the minor leagues. That's what the Nats are doing by promoting left-hander Andrew Alvarez, who'll be making his MLB debut. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.

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[Shawn]

Are they not going to snelling a s*** tomorrow? It’s after August so should affect his service time, I like to see what he’s got and going against one of the worst teams in league. 

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Six games with the Nationals bode well for a nice September success foundation - led by the amazing Marsee.

Let's go all out to cement an overachieving season and some fine individual accomplishments. 

[Ely Sussman]

On 8/31/2025 at 7:27 PM, Shawn said:

Are they not going to snelling a s*** tomorrow? It’s after August so should affect his service time, I like to see what he’s got and going against one of the worst teams in league. 

Unfortunately seems clear at this point that they see more value in gaining club control of him through 2032 than they do getting him big league experience now.

Regardless of pitching injuries and other variables, I don't expect to see him up until several weeks into next season.

[Hippyboi]

I thought there was a limited ability to play without affecting your long term status.

Be nice to see T White pitch a few games at AAA before the season ends. Alderman finally got the call and has 2 home runs in 2 games