CINCINNATI — Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee turned in his best offensive game of 2026, going 4-for-4 with a 386-foot homer in an 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Saturday.
The 25-year-old second-year outfielder tattooed all four balls he put in play — singles at 97.4, 103.9 and 103.2 mph and a homer off Reds starter Brady Singer at 100.3 mph. The performance caps a 20-game stretch in which Marsee is slashing .321/.406/.518 with two home runs.
“Marsee’s been getting it going,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “Terrific to see his best offensive game of the season and not a better time to get him going and doing this. It could be a really big thing for us.”
Marsee also showed instincts on the basepaths in the fifth inning, sprinting to second on a single when Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte couldn’t field a hard roller cleanly. He advanced to third on Edwards’ squeeze bunt and scored on Heriberto Hernández’s grounder through the left side. Hernández later added a two-run single in the eighth after McCullough pinch-hit for Marsee against Reds lefty Sam Moll. Griffin Conine followed with an RBI knock in the same frame.
The four-hit game was Marsee’s first of 2026 after recording two such performances during his rookie season in 2025, when he slashed .292/.363/.478 and finished eighth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He won Arizona Fall League MVP honors in 2023. His overall 2026 numbers — .212/.326/.320 — reflect earlier struggles, but the recent surge suggests a turnaround for a player whose plate discipline and speed profile him as a classic leadoff hitter capable of swiping 20-plus bags.
“I have a good idea of what the strike zone is, so just making sure I’m swinging at good pitches to hit and hitting the ball hard,” Marsee said. “Honestly, for me, even if I mishit it, if my direction’s good and I’m not pulling off the ball, just stuff like that. I’m just trying to beat the pitcher and not the scoreboard.”
McCullough said he plans to continue mixing and matching atop the lineup based on starter handedness, roster composition and opposing bullpens. Marsee said the flexibility suits him fine.
“In the past, I haven’t done a good enough job of just treating at-bats the same, and in reality it doesn’t really matter,” Marsee said. “I’m just trying to keep the same version of the game, and I think I’ve been doing a better job of that lately.”