Marsee joins elite club of Marlins with NL Rookie of the Month honors

WASHINGTON -- Don’t be fooled by Marlins rookie outfielder Jakob Marsee's soft-spoken nature.

Asked what he would’ve thought if told a year ago he would receive National League Rookie of the Month honors, Marsee exuded nothing but confidence with his reply.

“I would hope so,” Marsee said. “This has been my dream my whole life, so you always dream about it and think you can do it. But once it finally happens, it really hits you. So I probably would have thought it for myself, but I think it really hits you once it happens.”

Marsee, who debuted on Aug. 1, was named the NL Rookie of the Month for August on Wednesday morning. He became the first Marlin to win the award since left-hander Trevor Rogers (April-May 2021), and the 11th Marlin overall, joining:

• Dontrelle Willis (June 2003)
• Miguel Cabrera (2x, July and September 2003)
• Josh Johnson (2x, May and June 2006)
• Dan Uggla (June 2006)
• Aníbal Sánchez (September 2006)
• Chris Coghlan (August 2009)
• Gaby Sánchez (June 2010)
• José Fernández (2x, July and August 2013)
• Justin Bour (September 2015)
• Rogers

The 24-year-old Marsee hit .352/.430/.629 with 11 doubles, three triples, four homers, 25 RBIs, 18 runs and nine steals across 30 games. He led qualified rookies in average, RBIs, slugging, OPS (1.059), hits, doubles, triples, extra-base hits (13), total bases (66) and stolen bases; tied for second in walks and ranked third in on-base percentage and runs.

Marsee became the fourth Marlins rookie with at least 25 RBIs in a single month, per Elias Sports Bureau. He was the third Marlin under the age of 25 with at least 35 hits and 25 RBIs in a single month, joining Giancarlo Stanton (May 2012) and Cabrera (3x, May 2006, August '06 & September '07).

“Congrats to Jakob, certainly well deserved,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He earned it. It was an incredible month. The statistics aside, offensively, what he was able to do, not only getting on base, but he slugged, he drove in runs, he scored runs, stealing bases. On the defensive end. So a really great start for Jakob in his young Major League career.

“A lot of it attributed to Jakob came up here and you can tell right away [there] was very much a calmness to himself in the box, the heart rate never seemed to really get spiked. We just felt like each night he was going to run out two, three, high-quality at-bats, and that'll lead to walks, lead to hits. So he's off to a great start. And then now you have this type of month, the adjustments that will be coming now. You do something like this in the league, and your opponents start to take a little more notice, start to game plan a little differently.

“We believe Jakob is fully equipped, from a skill perspective, to make those necessary adjustments as they come along. He's been a real shot in the arm for us this month with his performance, and look forward to him continuing just to get better each day that he's up.”

Marsee, who ranked as Miami’s No. 10 prospect at the time of his callup (now No. 8), had had several moments stand out early in his career.

There was Marsee’s MLB debut, when he became the first player in franchise history to reach base at least four times and to draw three walks in his first career game. The Allen Park, Mich., native then tied a franchise record with seven RBIs on Aug. 13 in Cleveland in front of a large contingent of family and friends.

On Aug. 17 in Boston, Marsee came off the bench for the first time. Not only did he produce a pinch-hit single in the eighth, but he also took lefty Steven Matz deep for the go-ahead homer in the ninth.

“I don't really ever set expectations for myself, but just to come in and have success and stuff, obviously, is super rewarding and exciting,” Marsee said. “So really cool to happen. Goal once you get here is never go back, and just my goal every day.”

Marsee and McCullough, who delivered the news to his rookie outfielder, already are looking ahead. It’s a new month with new opportunities. After opening September hitless in his first eight at-bats, Marsee singled twice and flied out deep to center in Wednesday's 10-5 loss to the Nationals.

“Just coming up here and being myself, didn't try to do too much in big situations, and kept things simple and just enjoyed it,” Marsee said. “I’ve enjoyed every single moment so far, and I just hope I keep on doing that each and every day, because if I keep on just enjoying every day and having fun playing, then good things will happen.”