WEYMOUTH, Mass. (August 23, 2022) -- The group of former Futures League players to reach to the highest level of professional baseball is up to double digits as former Brockton Rox pitcher Jake Fishman made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Miami Marlins on July 31.
Of the 10 Futures League products to reach MLB, Fishman is just the second who played for Brockton and the fourth to make his debut this season.
The 27-year-old left-hander hails from Sharon, Mass., and attended Division 3 Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. He was a 30th-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016, reached the Triple-A level just two years later, and joined the Marlins organization last season after being selected in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft.
Before receiving the call to Miami, Fishman had been pitching for the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, where he has since returned to pitch in five August games. In his first and only MLB appearance to date, the southpaw worked 2.1 innings of one-run relief against the New York Mets.
Fishman pitched for the Rox in 2014, the summer following his first of three seasons at Union. In nine Futures League appearances (two starts), he went 3-1 with two saves, a 2.67 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. Sacred Heart University alum Zack Short, who made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Detroit Tigers, was one of Fishman’s teammates in Brockton.
“From the first day I got to campus, playing in the Major Leagues was definitely a goal of mine,” Fishman told UnionAthletics.com. “As my career progressed through Union and I pitched in the summer leagues alongside Division 1 players, it gave me confidence that I could be drafted. It’s such a long progression through the minors; there are some days where you think it will never happen and other days you feel like you could play every day. But I just try and take things day-by-day.”
Fishman earned Division 3 All-American honors and was named Liberty League Player and Pitcher of the Year following his junior campaign with the Dutchmen, as he went 7-0 and led the nation with a 0.41 ERA. He was also a three-time All-New York Region honoree. Fishman is Union’s all-time leader in wins (18), ERA (1.36) and strikeouts (177), and he also maintained a career batting average of .410 as a two-way player.
After becoming the first-ever MLB draft pick out of Union, Fishman pitched in the Gulf Coast League and advanced to two other clubs the following year. He spent most of 2018 with Advanced-A Dunedin and returned to New England with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats before appearing in a Triple-A game with the Buffalo Bisons by the end of 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic ended Fishman’s time as a Blue Jay after four years. He was selected by Miami in the Rule 5 Draft despite not seeing any professional action in 2020. During his pro career, Fishman represented Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and the most recent Olympic Games.
According to Baseball Reference, Fishman is the first Union alum to play in the majors since 1912; the first three played between 1880 and 1893.
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