September 17, 2009

Meet Jake Marisnick



Our Toronto Blue Jays selected Jake Marisnick out of Riverside Poly High School in California in the third round, 104th overall, of the 2009 MLB draft. He is, by all accounts, a "five-tool player," and the Jays went almost $700,000 over-slot to get his autograph on a contract. (In your face, Selig!!1)

Jake's also on Twitter, and he was kind enough to answer some random questions from the few, the proud, the Blue Jays blogosphere:

eyebleaf: Batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage - which one's the most important to you?
Jake Marisnick: On-base percentage. The more a player reaches base the more he has a chance to score and help his team win.

The Tao of Stieb: How are you finding the transition to wooden bats?
JM: I have had a chance to use wood bats in the past so it is going good. Wood lets you know when you are doing something wrong, where as metal lets you get away with those things.

Drew-LtB - Ghostrunner on First: What do you think is your best defensive trait (arm, range, speed, jumps, etc.)?
JM: I think my best defensive trait would have to be instincts. Knowing what's around me, where to go with the ball when I get it, and the jumps I get when the ball comes off the bat.

eyebleaf: Any regrets about missing out on college?
JM: Coach Horton is going to have a good team up at Oregon (ed: the University of Oregon, where Jake was recruited to play) and I am curious on how that will go this year. I know the coaching staff will do great. But playing baseball instead of sitting in a classroom is something I cant complain about. I know I made the right choice.

The Ack - weekend editor, The Tao of Stieb: What do you like better: the powder blue Jays jersey? Or the 1992/1993 Jays jersey?
JM: Well I like what came with the 1992/93 Jays jersey. So I'd have to go with that one.

Joanna - Hum and Chuck: Do you have a favourite Blue Jays player, past or present? If so, why?
JM: Coach Greg Myers was my assistant high school coach and I really respect him and the stories he told me about how to play the game. I also like Travis Snider and how he plays the game and how fast he went through the system. With any luck I can do the same.

Ian H. - The Blue Jay Hunter: What was the draft day experience like - were you anxiously waiting by the phone for "the call" or did you go about your routine like it was any other day?
JM: When I woke up I was a little more excited than on a regular day. But I just hung out with my brothers and mom and dad waiting to hear what team was going to select me.

eyebleaf: Why do you use Twitter?
JM: It allows people to get an idea of what it's like going through the draft and living the life of a minor leaguer, even though I'm sure it seems pretty boring right now. I'm just happy I have some good people who follow me. Hope I don't let them down.

Joanna - Hum and Chuck: What do you know about Toronto, and Canadians, in general?
JM: To be very honest I was always an Angels fan since they're my home town team, but I hope to learn a lot more in the future.

eyebleaf: What number do you plan on wearing once you make it to "the show?"
JM: #12. It has been my number for as long as I can remember in both baseball and football so with some luck I may get that number. But I'm not too superstitious.

eyebleaf: A two-sport star, what made you choose baseball over football?
JM: Playing in the Major Leagues has always been a goal of mine since I was a little kid. Football is something I picked up in high school and enjoyed playing, but I didn’t have the dream of playing in the NFL so I decided to stick with the sport I have loved my entire life.

And we're glad you did, Jake.

In all seriousness, Marisnick's answer to The Ack's question was NAILS. And on-base percentage was indeed the correct response to the first question. How does an outfield of Adam Lind, Jake Marisnick, and Travis Snider sound? (Vernon Wells can DH, or something.) The best part: Jake grew up supporting his home town team. He's my kind of guy.

A hearty thanks to Jake and his team for indulging us. Never has there been a more highly touted high school Blue Jays draft pick. (No pressure.) We wish him luck on his journey to Toronto.

See you in few, Jake.

15 comments:

Archi said...

Wow.

Wow Wow Wow...

This is incredible.

Good questions everyone, great read.

William J. Tasker said...

Very cool post. Impressed with you folks and with the young Jake.

Aquamelli said...

great post! He seems like a well rounded kid with great personality. He should be a fun one in the club house. Lind, Snider, and Marisnick does sound pretty fucking nails in the outfield

Jennifer Hammer said...

Great stuff!!

am I the only one that caught the "Vernon can be DH" (and LOL'd)?

Mattt said...

Interesting. Thanks for sharing...

The Ack said...

Nice work dude (and to Jake if he's reading this). Kudos.

Yeah, I lobbed in the softball jersey question, but the rationale for his (your) pick was fanfuckingtastic. Nice.

Anonymous said...

This was very cool. I don't know whose idea this was, but y'all nailed it. Kudos.

Scott

SL said...

Great post. Looks like he's got a sweet vertical leap, too.

sarah said...

Very cool, everyone. I like this kid.

Torgen said...

Should have asked something like, "Which stat is better? OPS, wOBA, or EqA?"

bkblades said...

Great stuff to everyone involved. Wide-ranging questions and the answers from Jake (the Snake? Marisnick Mamba? A nickname that isn't serpent related?) were solid as a result.

Ian Hunter said...

I'm glad he stuck with baseball! Good work, friend. I look forward to see Jake in a Jays jersey in the near future, hopefully!

Torgen said...

Jake and the Fat Bat? Jake and the bat, Man?

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

Thanks for all the comments, folks. It's amazing what can happen when you send out a direct message on Twitter, at 2 AM, asking for a Q&A guest post.

Thanks to my colleagues who submitted questions, and thanks to Jake.

A nickname most definitely is in the works. Can't wait to see this kid take over for that chump in centre field. Err, I mean, I BELIEVE IN VERNON WELLS!!1

And Jake Marisnick, too. If you follow Jake on Twitter, you'll now see that his avatar is a Jays logo. That's what's up. Go Jays.

Corey Pronman said...

I wonder how you approach a guy and say, "Jake, a bunch of bloggers want to throw some qustions at you, down?"