Jake Marisnick apologizes for his role in Astros’ scheme
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Hours after J.D. Davis expressed regret and embarrassment for his knowledge of the 2017 Astros’ signstealing scheme, new Mets outfielder Jake Marisnick echoed his teammate — saying he “feels terribly” about the line that he crossed.
Marisnick, a seven-year big-leaguer, saw his home batting average spike when he played 106 games for the Astros in 2017. He hit .308 (33 for 107) at Minute Maid Park — where MLB confirmed the Astros installed a monitor that displayed the center-field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros’ dugout — and batted .187 (23 for 123) on the road that season.
The 2017 season, as it turns out, was Marisnick’s best career year (minimum of 70 games played). He was traded to the Mets in December for two low-level minor-leaguers.
Marisnick began his press conference Friday by apologizing for “what happened in 2017.” He regrets not speaking up to his teammates, manager, coaches or front office about the Astros’ trash can-banging scheme. The 28-year-old said he does not want to be a distraction to the Mets this year.
“I want to say sorry to fans, Major League Baseball, my peers and anybody else who was affected by this,” Marisnick said. “We’re all in a clubhouse and we’re all grown men, and we all had a chance to voice our opinion. That’s something that I regret not doing is, I didn’t say anything on the matter.”
Astros owner Jim Crane — who sidestepped punishment from the league, unlike former GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch — said on Thursday that Houston’s batters having knowledge of what pitch was coming “did not impact the game.”
Marisnick, notably, had a similar answer as his former owner when asked if using technology to steal signs gave him an advantage. He also praised the 2017 Astros team for their talent and playing the game hard.
“I think the thought behind it was to give us an advantage. I’m not sure if it did or didn’t, but I think that was the reasoning behind it,” he said.
Marcus Stroman got knocked around for a couple of runs by the Astros in the fifth inning of a start on Aug. 6, 2017 at Minute Maid Park while pitching for the Blue Jays. Last month, Stroman displayed outrage on his Twitter account by quote-tweeting a video with audible banging that took place during that start.
“S--- makes sense now,” he said on Jan. 20. “I remember wondering how these guys were laying off some of my nasty pitches. Relaying all my signs in live speed to the batter. Ruining the integrity of the game.”
Stroman did not expand on his comments from last month, but Marisnick said he already spoke to him about it.
“He was angry and there’s a lot of people that are angry over this,” Marisnick said. “I’ve had a small conversation with him. I’m not going to get into the details of it. It went well and I’m sure we’ll talk as the season goes on. I gotta go in there and I gotta earn their respect and earn their trust.”
Michael Conforto was asked on Tuesday whether he needs an apology from Marisnick or Davis for their roles in the 2017 scandal. Conforto made it clear that the Mets feel like their involvement with the Astros is in the rearview mirror and he does not expect any animosity.
“Our involvement with it was Carlos (Beltran) and we’ve moved on from that,” Conforto said. “I don’t see us dwelling on that at all. I think J.D. and Jake, they’re our guys now and we’re moving forward. They’re going to be part of a winning season this year.”