Baseball Beginnings

John Klima | August 17, 2009

Jake Marisnick has agreed to terms with the Toronto Blue Jays for a $1 million signing bonus, Marisnick told Baseball Beginnings first Monday afternoon. Marisnick confirmed his earlier Twitter message that he had come to terms with the club. “I was hoping to get my number and (the Blue Jays) said they were there,” Marisnick told Baseball Beginnings. “I was all set on going to Oregon.”

Baseball Beginnings extensively covered Marisnick this spring. You can learn all about the former Riverside Poly outfielder, see him play, read a scouting report, and read his exclusive Baseball Beginnings interviews. Stay tuned to Baseball Beginnings as we continue to chase draft-day deadline news.

Read Jake Marisnick Q&A
Read Jake Marisnick Catchup
Watch Jake Marisnick Scouting video
Read Jake Marisnick Scouting report
Watch Matt Hobgood vs. Jake Marisnick Video
Hobgood vs. Marisnick game

Category: 2009 Draft, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, Toronto Blue Jays

John Klima | June 30, 2009

In the final days before the 2009 draft, Jake Marisnick worked out for the Angels, Yankees, Royals and Blue Jays. The Angels, Yankees and Blue Jays have a history of drafting athletic outfielders and paying to get them, so those teams seemed like a logical fit. But the Angels took two outfielders with their first two picks, the Yankees took an outfielder with their first pick, and the Royals went heavy on pitching.

Toronto took four pitchers with its first four picks, then used their second third-round pick on their first position player, taking the Riverside Poly center fielder with the 104^th overall selection.

Marisnick told Baseball Beginnings that negotiations have started with the Blue Jays, but no agreement has been reached.

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Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, Oregon, Toronto Blue Jays

John Klima | June 11, 2009

Trayce Thompson was a highly sought-after Southern California center fielder. He said that he was aware of the Mariners, Angels, Astros, Dodgers, Phillies, Rays, Cubs, Orioles and A’s interest. Thompson, who did workouts at Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Minute Maid Park, thought that the Angels were a likely fit because of the team’s reputation for taking high school players and for drafting in Southern California. The Angels have used their first pick on a Southern California high school player in three of the last four years, taking Trevor Bell in 2005, Hank Conger in 2006 and Tyler Chatwood in 2008.

“I initially thought that too,” Thompson said. “I’m not mad that they didn’t take me or anything like that, but there were two high school center fielders (Thompson and Jake Marisnick) they could have gone with. I sometimes wondered if one or both of us would end up there. It’s all worked out and I’m happy they considered me. I loved playing on Angels Elite. I can’t wait to get started with the White Sox. You can’t argue with the situation.”

Thompson said that he gradually became aware that the White Sox were on him. When he fell to the 61^st overall pick, the White Sox pounced on a player whose above-average athletic ability and home run potential in center field project him to be a quality starter on a first-division team.

“The White Sox were really diligent with me,” said Thompson, who has a commitment to play college baseball at UCLA.

Read Trayce Thompson Q&A
Read Trayce Thompson report
Watch Trayce Thompson video
Watch Trayce Thompson video Part 2
Trayce Thompson Drafted by the Chicago White Sox

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Angels Elite, Chicago White Sox, Jake Marisnick, UCLA

John Klima | June 9, 2009

Today, the Toronto Blue Jays selected Jake Marisnick in the 3rd round (104th overall) in the draft. Follow the links below for Baseball Beginnings content on Marisnick.

 
Read Jake Marisnick signs
Read Jake Marisnick Q&A
Read Jake Marisnick Catchup
Watch Jake Marisnick Scouting video
Read Jake Marisnick Scouting report
Watch Matt Hobgood vs. Jake Marisnick Video
Hobgood vs. Marisnick game

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, Toronto Blue Jays

John Klima | June 9, 2009

 

Jake Marisnick, CF
Riverside Poly HS (2009 Draft)
6-3, 190
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Games seen: 4, Innings: 30

 

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Category: '09 Scouting Reports | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick

John Klima | June 9, 2009

Jake Marisnick is Southern California’s most athletic prospect. This video will give you a great idea of why people are so high on Marisnick. He can stay in center fielder and he can throw and run. The scouts who love him believe he will have 20-home run power because his hands are so fast. Here, you’ll see all you need to see: the swing, getting down the line, base running, starting and stopping and throwing. He has a major league body that has yet to fill out and way above-average athletic actions. 

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Read Jake Marisnick Q&A
Read Jake Marisnick signs
Read Jake Marisnick Catchup
Read Jake Marisnick Scouting report
Watch Matt Hobgood vs. Jake Marisnick Video
Hobgood vs. Marisnick game
Jake Marisnick Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, University of Oregon

John Klima | June 2, 2009

Back in Arkansas, there was a high school center fielder who could run, field and throw. The kid was certain he could hit. At the time, some scouts agreed with him and some scouts didn’t. He signed as a mid-first rounder and hit .190 with no home runs and six errors in rookie ball.  

Torii Hunter now has one more Gold Glove Award (seven) than the six years it took him to reach the big leagues. All those offensive struggles early in his career are a distant memory.

Jake Marisnick is about to embark on a similar path that he hopes will take him to similar heights. He is another skinny centerfielder gifted with above-average speed, throwing and fielding skills, the tools Marisnick accurately describes as the “tools you can’t take away and can’t teach.”

After a strong summer against good pitching, coming back to metal bats and high school pitching felt like slow motion. Marisnick began the season in a slump, trying to find his mechanics. He didn’t hit in March and early April. Some of the national scouts who came to see him against Norco’s Matt Hobgood bailed on him when the hard-throwing Hobgood controlled those outings.

One AL cross-checker believes that downgrading Marisnick because he didn’t hit Hobgood in two games when the right-hander had arguably his best stuff of an award-winning season is a bad call. “His hands are too fast not to hit,” the scout opined.

Marisnick’s advisor is Larry Reynolds, Torri Hunter’s longtime agent. As a fringe benefit of being a center fielder, Marisnick found a role model in both tools and persona. He takes pride in his defense, which always seems to be innate with the rare natural center fielders.

The day before Marisnick and Riverside Poly faced left-hander Tyler Matzek and Capistrano Valley in a Division I semifinal, Baseball Beginnings caught up with Marisnick to discuss the season, the future, and Hunter’s advice to the young center fielder whose growing pains are not unique. 

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Angel Elite, Jake Marisnick, Matt Hobgood, Torii Hunter, Tyler Matzek

John Klima | June 1, 2009

Tyler Matzek is expected to pitch Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach against Riverside Poly and Jake Marisnick. This is our second installment of Matzek video and we think it’s clear to see that Matzek looked better at the end of May than he did at the start of April. In his previous outing, Matzek hit 97 mph and impressed scouts with his curveball. Many said it was the best stuff they had seen from him all season.

 

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Read Matzek’s first interview after he signs with Rockies
Read Tyler Matzek Q&A
Matzek hits 97
Watch Tyler Matzek April Scouting video
Read Tyler Matzek Scouting report
Matzek Makes Final Start One to Savor
Colorado Rockies Select Tyler Matzek

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, Tyler Matzek, University of Oregon

John Klima | May 29, 2009

 

Right-hander Matt Hobgood’s final high school start before the 2009 MLB draft wasn’t the conclusion that the Norco (Calif.) pitcher and probable first-round pick envisioned. On the other hand, when a bad day constitutes reaching 95 mph and throwing the occasional hard 12-6 curveball at 75 for strikes, the game may be lost but the prospect status is not.

 

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Category: 2009 Draft, 2010 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Aaron Northcraft, Cory Hahn, Jake Marisnick, Jiovanni Mier, Matt Hobgood

John Klima | April 25, 2009

First rounder vs. first rounder is a tradition here at Baseball Beginnings. The video here follows the report I filed live on April 23 when Marisnick and Riverside Poly visited Norco and Hobgood. To sum it up, Hobgood hit Marisnick on the forearm in the first at-bat. Marisnick struck out in his second at-bat against an above-average breaking ball, and then singled on a hanging breaking ball in the third at-bat.

You could jot your scouting notes down on the inside of a matchbook cover. Hobgood: above-average fastball and curveball, workhorse, should be mainstay on a contendor. Marisnick: above-average runner, thrower and fielder right now. Graceful athlete, a lot of potential in front of him.  

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Read Matt Hobgood Q&A
Watch Matt Hobgood Scouting video
Read Matt Hobgood Scouting report
Watch Matt Hobgood’s Camden Yards bullpen session
Catching up with Matt Hobgood
Read Jake Marisnick Q&A
Read Jake Marisnick signs
Read Jake Marisnick Catchup
Watch Jake Marisnick Scouting video
Read Jake Marisnick Scouting report
Hobgood vs. Marisnick game
Jake Marisnick Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Jake Marisnick, Matt Hobgood