Leading man: Marsee's sizzling Fall League continues

October 28th, 2023

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Through three weeks of Arizona Fall League play, has emerged as one of the best all-around players among the talented crop of prospects.

The Padres' No. 12 prospect did a little bit of everything for the Javelinas on Friday night. Marsee went 2-for-3 with three walks, a home run and a stolen base in Peoria’s 9-5 win over the Saguaros at Surprise Stadium.

“I was just trying to get my pitch and get on base,” Marsee said. “It was just to help my teammates out and help get runs. I got my pitch a couple of times and took advantage of it.”

Marsee has resided as the leadoff hitter in almost every level of baseball he’s played in. In 2022, High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio enjoyed the luxury of Marsee’s success at the top of the order.

The Saguaros got that in the first inning. Marsee singled to begin the game and ended up scoring the first run of the game, but that was just a small glimpse of what was to come in the second inning.

After enduring a nine-pitch battle against Surprise pitcher CJ Van Eyk (TOR), Marsee ended the battle with a towering 403-foot home run that sailed over the right-field bullpen. It was Marsee’s fourth home run of the season, which is tied with the second most in the AFL.

“I was just staying on the heater looking up and didn’t want to chase anything down,” Marsee said. “I was looking at the heart of the plate, just trying to help cash in a run with the guy at second. I just got my pitch and I chipped in.”

Marsee proceeded to get walked in three straight plate appearances, adding his season total to 16, which is second in the AFL behind Will Robertson (TOR).

Marsee is a top-five leader in 12 different categories. Most notably, he is tied first in stolen bases (12), No. 1 in runs (20) and tied first in hits (27). In addition, he is second in OBP (.523) -- all categories that are especially crucial for a leadoff hitter.

Marsee attributes his success to the players he is surrounded by. He has taken advantage of this by soaking as much knowledge as he can in the shortened season. He hopes to walk away as an AFL champion with the Javelinas, who have one of the deepest lineups.

“I think there's a lot of things you can learn just from talking to all the different players and different organizations here,” Marsee said. “With my team and then other teams and, just seeing different ways attack you and just learn from that and then just being able to piggyback off each other and just communicate within a team.”

Chase DeLauter (CLE No. 4, MLB No. 85) hit a 414-foot home run and finished with four RBIs for the Javelinas. Surprise’s Damiano Palmegiani (TOR No. 18) went 1-for-3 with a home run.