Marlins’ Jakob Marsee Made Key Contribution to Team Italy’s Victory
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Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee came up huge for Team Italy as the team advances to the quarterfinals with a 9-1 win over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
Marsee delivered an important 2-run RBI single in the top of the fifth inning.
Marsee Makes A Statement With His Production
The 24-year-old is having an unforgettable, unbelievable month of March. Not only is he performing well in spring training, but he's also contributing to Italy's success.
Although Vinny Pasquantino grabbed the headlines and became the player of the game, it is understandable because he delivered three home runs. However, Marsee was also important to Italy's win, and his effort broke the game open.
In the fifth inning, Italy was leading 3-0. With men on base, Marsee drove in two runs that made the game 5-0 and took the air out of the Mexico team. No one expected a team like Italy to take down a talented team like Mexico, but Marsee and Italy came out to dominate, and that's what they did. They are telling the world, just like Team Canada, "Why not us?"
There's another former Marlin who made contributions in last night's game. The 36-year-old infielder Jon Berti, who spent five seasons with the Marlins from 2019 through 2023, delivered a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Marsee is not having the prettiest stats in the WBC, slashing .188/.350/.600 with three hits, one double, two RBIs in 16 at-bats. It's completely different than what he's doing in the spring training.
In nine at-bats during spring training, Marsee is slashing .444/.615/1.504 with one home run, four runs, four hits, one RBI, and one stolen base. Who knows? This performance against Mexico may be the start of Marsee getting hot at the right time.
Players need that one hit, that one specific moment to regain their confidence and build more momentum. Marsee is showing not just Italy, but also Miami, that he can produce at any moment, no matter if things aren't going right for him.
Can Marsee do it again? Team Italy hopes so because they will need him and everyone else to step up against Puerto Rico.
Italy will face Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 14th, in Houston at 3 pm EST. Puerto Rico and Italy have some history in the WBC. Italy lost twice to them in 2013 and 2017. Italy is seeking to write a different story this time. Italy is capable of doing the impossible after securing big wins against the USA and Mexico.
After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.