The Braves have released outfielder Jake Marisnick, who’d been playing with Triple-A Gwinnett after signing a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’ll head back to the market and look to latch on with another team needing outfield depth.
Marisnick’s release comes both on the heels of some notable struggles in Gwinnett and a shakeup in Atlanta’s outfield corps. The Braves signed veteran Eddie Rosario to a big league deal yesterday after his recent release from the Dodgers organization. In a corresponding move, they optioned Jarred Kelenic to Gwinnett, hoping a minor league reset can get the former top prospect back on track. Releasing Marisnick will clear roster space and playing time for Kelenic in Triple-A.
As noted, the 2025 season has been a struggle for Marisnick anyhow. The 34-year-old has appeared in a dozen games and taken 45 turns at the plate. He’s produced a woeful .098/.178/.195 batting line in that time. Marisnick has homered and was successful in his only stolen base attempt, but he’s fanned in 29% of his plate appearances and posted bottom-of-the-scale batted ball metrics (81.7 mph average exit velocity, 28.6% hard-hit rate).
Although he didn’t hit well in Gwinnett, Marisnick logged a big .286/.371/.549 slash with in the Angels’ minor league ranks just last year. He’s a veteran of 11 major league seasons who has more than nine years of major league service time under his belt. Marisnick has never been a big threat with the bat — as evidenced by a lifetime .228/.281/.385 line in 2247 MLB plate appearances — but Statcast regularly places him in the 85th to 90th percentile in terms of sprint speed, and Marisnick is a superlative defender in center field; in 4448 career innings, he’s been credited with 54 Defensive Runs Saved and 40 Outs Above Average in center. He’s chipped in another 26 DRS and 12 OAA in 908 career innings in the corners.
Marisnick has at least held his own against left-handed pitching in his major league career (.237/.293/.417, 92 wRC+). That, coupled with his speed and glovework, ought to earn him a look with a new organization — albeit likely on another minor league contract.