Jake Schrand Gets Hitters’ Attention With High-Octane Fastball

Jake Schrand doesn’t show up on any Marlins prospects list.

But that’s OK.

Just add it to other slights endured by the undersized righthander the Marlins selected in the ninth round last year out of Wright State.

“He almost looks pissed off on the mound,” Wright State coach Alex Sogard said of Schrand, who checks in at 6 feet, 190 pounds. “He’s got a little ‘crazy’ in him on the mound, but pitchers are different birds.”

Schrand, who went to Cincinnati’s Colerain High, admits he is intense, and he has a fastball that gets a hitter’s attention. He throws his 97-98 mph four-seamer up in the zone. His two-seamer has more late sink and armside run. He also throws a split-changeup and a knuckle-curve.

That assortment of pitches convinced Sogard to move Schrand from his role as closer in 2020 into the rotation last year as a fourth-year senior. Schrand went 5-4, 4.61and struck out 92 in 68.1 innings.

“If we had a lead after seven innings, we knew the game was over,” Sogard said of Schrand’s closing days. “He’s a bulldog—power fastball, power breaking ball.”

All that relief experience helped last summer. Schrand made three appearances in the Florida Complex League after signing and struck out 10 batters in six innings to go with a 3.00 ERA.

He would have thrown more, but the Marlins shut him down with a forearm strain.

Schrand said he is now 100% healthy. He will start if the Marlins think that’s his best fit, but he said he likes his role as a reliever.

“You can’t have that same high intensity as a starter,” Schrand said. “But it’s something I can do when I’m asked to get three outs in about 10 minutes.

“As a starter, your head has to be in a different space.”

As for the “crazy” talk, Schrand said that even if that’s the outside perception, it’s only an on-the-mound persona.

“I try to change my mindset,” he said, “from real world to baseball.”