Jake Marisnick was drafted in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and showed a lot of promise early on in the minor leagues.

Marisnick made his professional debut in 2010 at rookie-level ball and hit .287/.373/.459 with three homers, 14 RBI, and 14 stolen bases in 35 games.

That prompted the team to promote him to Low-A in which he struggled to replicate his success as he hit .220/.298/.339 with one homer, 12 RBI, and nine stolen bases over 34 games the remainder of the year. His strikeout rate ballooned from 12.7% to 25.9% after moving up a level in the minors.

His struggles finishing out the 2010 season is what led the organization to have the center fielder play the 2010 season at low-A again, but he found his groove in 2011.

In 118 games, Marisnick hit .320/.392/.496 with 14 homers, 77 RBI, and 37 stolen bases while he reduced his strikeout rate to 17.4%. With spectacular defense in center field, he looked like a five-tool player in the making.

That being said, his .371 BABIP proved unsustainable in 2012 as he hit .263/.349/.451 with six homers, 35 RBI, and 10 steals at High-A before being promoted to Double-A after 65 games.

Marisnick struggled mightily upon getting there as he had a lowly .622 OPS in 55 games.

Entering the offseason, Marisnick was ranked as the 35th best prospect in all of baseball by MLB.com which meant he had some value on the trade market.

The Blue Jays took advantage of that as Marisnick was moved in a 12-player trade alongside Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez, Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Nicolino, and Jeff Mathis.

That deal netted the Blue Jays Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, and John Buck from the Miami Marlins.

Reyes was only one year into his six-year contract with the Marlins while Buck actually ended being dealt to the Mets a month later in a deal that sent R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays.

Marisnick impressed in his first season in the Marlins’ system as he registered a .840 OPS and 11 steals in 2013 over 70 games in the minors.

In turn, the Marlins decided to call up their young center field prospect from Double-A Jacksonville on July 23. He would make his MLB debut that night, but would go 0-for-4. Marisnick would not register his first hit until his fourth game on July 26.

His first major league stint would be disappointing as he hit .183/.231/.248 with one homer, five RBI, and three stolen bases to give himself a 31 wRC+ and -0.2 fWAR over 40 games.

However, his defense proved to be elite in a spacious Marlins Park as he had 7 DRS and a 3.0 UZR over a mere 261 innings spent in center field.

In 2014, he would fail to make the team out of Spring Training and was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans where he spent the majority of the season before being traded yet again.

On July 31 of that season, Marisnick was dealt to the Houston Astros along with Colin Moran, Francis Martes, and a 2015 compensatory pick in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez, and Austin Wates with Cosart being the prize for the Marlins.

Marisnick spent the rest of the 2014 season at the major league level with the Astros in which he had a .669 OPS over 51 games which, while not great, was a significant improvement as compared to how he fared in 2013 at the major league level.

His 2015 season, by fWAR standards, would prove to be his best as, despite only having a .665 OPS, Marisnick registered a 1.8 fWAR.

That was mostly because of his stellar defense in which he had 13 DRS and a 7.6 UZR across 923 innings playing all three outfield spots. He also stole 24 bases that season making him valuable on the basepaths as well.

After a sub-par 2016 season, Marisnick went on to have the best offensive season of his career in 2017 as he hit .243/.319/.496 with 16 home runs and 35 RBI to give himself a 117 wRC+. He actually had a lower fWAR (1.4) than he did in 2015 mostly due to a solid, but not spectacular defensive showing in 2017 (2 DRS, -4.0 UZR).

Marisnick and the Houston Astros became World Series champions that season as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. He played alongside Carlos Beltran that season who, as everyone knows, is the Mets’ new manager. J.D. Davis also played with Marisnick at various points while with the Astros.

Unfortunately, the legitimacy of that championship for everyone on the Astros that season has been called into question recently, though, due to the cheating scandal surrounding that season.

The Houston Astros’ organization likely hoped that Marisnick would become even better in 2018 after his impressive offensive showing in 2017, but that didn’t happen as his power didn’t carry over and his BABIP fell from .320 in 2017 to .292 in 2018.

A 35.7% strikeout rate didn’t help either, although it was only one percent lower in 2017. The team ended up briefly optioning Marisnick to the minors in 2018 due to his struggles offensively.

His 2019 season saw his strikeout rate lower to a still pretty high 29.9% as he hit .233/.289/.411 with 10 homers and 34 RBI over 120 games to give himself a 86 wRC+ and 1.1 fWAR.

Marisnick has found a niche at the major league level as a strong defender and 2019 was no exception as he had 5 DRS and a 3.4 UZR over 733 innings in center field. Whenever Marisnick played, George Springer was moved to right field to accommodate both.

Time will tell if the Mets giving up Blake Taylor and Kenedy Corona to get Marisnick was smart or not, but at the very least, the center fielder appears to be a viable replacement for Juan Lagares as the team’s fourth outfielder and has postseason experience that could be valuable for a young Mets roster.

At 28-years-old, there’s no reason to expect his defensive ability to decline and if he can regain his power stroke from 2017, he might be more than just a fourth outfielder for the Mets in 2020.