Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
May 6, 2009

(photo: Baseball Beginnings)

Jack Marder is the best high school hitter you’ve never heard of. You wouldn’t find his name on any of the major pre-season lists. He wasn’t one of the 2009 glamour boys in Southern California, but if you watch his swing and know what you’re looking for, it’s hard to miss.

Marder knows what your scouting report is going to say. Scouts will downgrade him because he’s not the flashiest athlete, but he’s also got enough athleticism. He’s not the rangiest defender, but he’ll position himself before the pitch because his feet always move. He’s not going to wow with his arm strength, but he’s going to get rid of it quickly and be accurate. He won’t be an Olympic sprinter but he’ll pick apart a pitcher with a slow release to steal bases and always go first to third.

All of these aspects are the mental parts of the game. You can be the smartest player in the world, but to play in the big leagues, you have to be able to hit.

Marder is from Newbury Park High School, along the Conejo Grade in Ventura County, where hitting genetics seem to reside in the local gene pools. He played with Newbury Park’s Andrew Lambo in high school and with Matt Dominguez and Mike Moustakas on the 1927 Yankees of club teams a few years back. He is two years younger than the former first round picks in 2007.

Marder is committed to play Pac-10 baseball at the University of Oregon if he doesn’t sign out of high school. What we have here is an average-sized ballplayer who can hit, the kind of player that an inexperienced area scout might dismiss as a good high school player who will be a great college player but never amount to a thing in pro ball, much less sniff the big leagues.

Go ahead. They said the same thing about Dustin Pedroia. Those guys aren’t in baseball today.

Baseball Beginnings: Jack Marder, University of Oregon, Matt Dominguez, Mike Moustakas, Jack Wilson, Dustin Pedroia, Andrew Lambo
Marder: I started playing with Lambo when I was 11 and he was 13. I think it was the best club team ever. We had Matt Dominguez at third, Mike Moustakas at short, Lambo at first, Robert Stock behind the plate. I think everyone except four guys on that team played Division I baseball or higher. I was the little small, 11-year old who kind of competed while playing center field.

The biggest thing I learned from Lambo was that every single at-bat, he took it as a competition and never gave away an at-bat, no matter who the pitcher was. If it was a bad high school pitcher or a first-rounder, he was going to take every at-bat as far as he could.

In terms of approaches, what I’m going through this year in terms of how I’m how getting pitched to is what he went through in his junior and senior years. I remember how he was able to recognize off-speed pitches all the time and even in counts like 2-0 or 2-1 where they were fastball counts, he was able to take a hanging curveball and drive it out.

If you talked to him, you wouldn’t realize how smart he was when he played. He’s probably one of the smartest baseball players I’ve ever seen. He always watches the pitcher. He taught me, since I was younger, there are a lot of guys (especially in high school), who show their pitches before they throw them. They always have a four-seam fastball and then their two-seam curveball. They go in their glove with a fastball grip every time, so if you see them change the grip in the glove, you know you’re not getting a fastball. He always taught me to look for little things, because when we’re not getting good pitches to hit, if we know what pitch is coming, it can help us out tremendously.

Yesterday, I hit a home run. I was watching the pitcher beforehand. He started with a two-seam every time. Most guys start with a four-seam all the time. He started with a two-seam grip and then changed it to go to a fastball. When he wasn’t changing his grip, it was either a change or a curveball every time. I got a 2-1 change-up, he didn’t change his grip, and he helped me out.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you still see Lambo after he signed?
Marder: With Lambo, he’s the same guy that he was when he was here. When he came down for our practices, he was still wearing his Newbury Park gear. He had some Dodger stuff on. But he was talking to us like it was still in-season. I have his cell number, because I always had to call him to tell him to bring all his stuff to games. That was my job, taking care of Lambo when I was a freshman and a sophomore. I had to make sure I brought an extra belt, extra socks and extra hat.

I call him from time to time to see what he’s doing. Before I ask him how he’s doing, he asks me how I’m doing. I always ask what it’s like in pro ball. He just says it’s faster. He’ll remind me that in high school you can get away with a bad swing or a long swing, but you can’t after you sign. Every guy does everything better. Baseball instincts and knowledge of the game are a big deal. If you have that, it’s a big advantage.  

Baseball Beginnings: Do you think the mental side of the game is one of your strengths?
Marder: I don’t want to be arrogant about it, but in terms of baseball knowledge, I think I’m smarter than anyone out there. I think that’s why I’m able to perform the way I do. I don’t want to say I’m one of the most gifted athletes to ever play, but in terms of baseball knowledge, I think I’m just as good if not better than anyone else. I hate to say it, but I think I’m smarter than 80 or 90 percent of the high school coaches out there, in terms of how to pitch to guys or what to do in the right situation.

Baseball Beginnings: How did you develop that?
Marder: My Dad played and my Uncle played and my grandfather played in the minor leagues for the Pirates. I grew up around baseball. I’ve worked with Kelly Paris since I was 11. My grandfather would always ask me the weirdest stuff and always made me think. But I always loved it. I always wanted to play.

Baseball Beginnings: How would you describe yourself as a player right now?
Marder: I think I’m best at getting an extra edge on every other player.

Baseball Beginnings: Does that apply to hitting?
Marder: If I didn’t have my head or my baseball knowledge, I doubt I would be the kind of hitter I am. So much of my hitting it tied to my approach. I feel I know what pitch is coming 80 percent of the time I come to the plate. I can’t tell you how many times I get the 2-1 curveball and I’m sitting on it. I know I have some baseball skills, but I think my intellect applies to my hitting. And to be honest, I have a really big desire to play. I’m sure a lot of kids say that, but I don’t think a lot of kids know what that means. If I could go hang out with my friends or go hit in the cage, well, it may not be fun, but I’ll be in the cage. If there’s one kid who is the exact same player as me, I always think about, ‘What is he doing right now? How can I get ahead of him?’ That’s my drive. I want to get to the major leagues anyway I can.

Baseball Beginnings: You said it yourself. You’ll never be the Willie Mays, but do you think your mental side will give you an advantage as you build your career and run up against guys who will probably be more toolsy and more athletic than you?
Marder: I already think about it. If I run a 60 with another guy, I probably lose. But if we run around the bases and we had a stolen base contest, I think I win. My coach here (Chuck Berrington) doesn’t even give me signs. He said, ‘You got a green light, you go when you want.’ I think I’m 11 for 11. It’s because I go off the right counts, I know the pitchers. It’s those kinds of things.

Baseball Beginnings: Is college a better fit for you right now or is signing? Is George Horton reading this saying, ‘Please, Dear God, let this kid get to me’?
Marder: I had a scout tell me once, ‘We look at you and we look at this other kid, and even though right now you are more tuned and more fine to be a much better high school baseball player, that kid has the potential and the athletic ability to be a superstar.’

Baseball Beginnings: So you already know you’re going to have to deal with this at every step?
Marder: When I heard that, I smiled and I put a chip on my shoulder. I’ll use that and take that with me.

Baseball Beginnings: Are you old enough to realize that there are plenty of 70s and 80s as amateurs who never play in the big leagues while there are tons of 48s, 49s, 50s who do play in the big leagues?
Marder: I think it’s the guys who play with a chip on their shoulders or play for something that make it. That’s why I feel so confident in whatever choice I make in terms of college or pro. I know that whatever path I take, my goal is to play in the major leagues, not just play in the minor leagues. A lot of guys say ‘I want to play pro ball,’ and that’s why they sign out of high school. My main goal is to play major league baseball. That’s why this is such a big decision for me and why I’m considering college. If I just wanted to say, ‘Hey, I’m a pro baseball player and I played in the minor leagues,’ I can’t. I can sign in whatever round. But that’s not my goal. My goal is to play in the major leagues. I think there’s a lot of guys like Jack Wilson or Dustin Pedroia who were told they were too small in high school.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you think a guy like you has a harder time getting a clean look?
Marder: I’m the guy who’s going to dive for balls, slide hard, play with my hair on fire. I’m going to hit. I’m going to play smart. That’s the only way I know I’m going to stand out. I’m not going to be the guy making the Dominican-type plays at short or hitting bombs. That’s not the way I stand out. I stand out by playing the game right and over 100 percent every single time I go out there. If somebody likes me, it’s the way I play, not because of all the athletic or baseball ability I have. I put myself in the right place at the right time, go hard every time.

Read Jack Marder Scouting report
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video Part 2
Read Diamondbacks or Ducks
Jack Marder Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks
Read Andrew Lambo Q&A

Categories: '09 Meet the Player
Tags: Dustin Pedroia, Jack Marder, Jack Wilson, Matt Dominguez, Mike Moustakas, University of Oregon, Willie Mays