FORMER C’S – WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

CANADIANS: 2017 CURRENTLY: JACKSONVILLE JUMBO SHRIMP (TRIPLE-A, MIA)

It’s not every day that a pitcher from a Division III college in the American Northeast makes it to the big leagues, but that is the exact situation former C’s reliever Jake Fishman found himself in when he climbed the slope on July 31, 2022 at Miami’s loanDepot park. JAKE FISHMAN The Sharon, MA native toiled in the minors for five seasons between two big league franchises before making his dream come true, and it all began in 2016 when Toronto drafted him in the 30th round with the 912th overall pick. Fishman earned a look from the Blue Jays after a sterling collegiate career at Union College in New York. While there, he was a two-way player that posted a sparkling 0.41 ERA in 66.0 innings and hit .361 in 40 games in his last season there. Toronto took a chance, signed him to a contract and sent him to Bluefield for his pro debut, where he logged the first 15.0 innings of his career. He returned to Bluefield for one tuneup in 2017 before he was assigned to Vancouver on July 6 of that year. Fishman went 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 innings across 14 relief appearances with the Canadians and those efforts were good enough for an end-of-season promotion to Low-A Lansing, where he pitched 6.2 innings over four relief outings to wrap up the year. The lefty made all but one of his 45 2018 appearances with High-A Dunedin and ended the season with a career-high 57.0 innings and posted a 2.68 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP and .224 BAA. He would go on to Double-A New Hampshire in 2019 and went 1-1 with four saves and a 3.45 ERA in 42 showings that spanned 62.2 innings, but that would be his final season in the Blue Jays system; after the pandemic cancelled the 2020 season he was claimed off waivers by the Marlins and joined their organization on December 10, 2020. Fishman’s first season with Miami would be spent with their Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville. While pitching in the International League that year, he made 34 appearances – including two starts – and went 5-1 with a 3.67 ERA in 56.1 innings of work. He returned to Triple-A in 2022 and continued to get outs before earning his call-up. On that fateful day in south Florida, Fishman allowed one run on four hits with no walks and no strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief. As of this writing, that is still his only game in the big leagues, but with Jake Fishman, anything is possible.