Former Seymour High ace Jake Wakinshaw has pitched well out of bullpen for Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
Tim Davis/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
WORCESTER — The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp were a little out of their environment this past week, more than 1,000 miles north of home, playing a series with the Worcester Red Sox at Polar Park.
Jake Walkinshaw, however, felt right at home. The right-handed reliever and Seymour native starred at Seymour High before pitching for five seasons at Southern New Hampshire University.
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With Polar Park situated centrally between Seymour and the SNHU campus, Walkinshaw had plenty of family, friends and former teammates (college and high school) taking in games during the week
“I had this one circled on the calendar,” he noted.
Of course, Walkinshaw’s calendar has been pretty filled recently. On July 7, he turned 30. About a week later, over the minor league all-star break, he asked his girlfriend of three years, Michelle, to marry him while on a day trip to Mystic.
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And so, Walkinshaw’s inning of scoreless relief on Wednesday (one walk, one strikeout) seemed a bit inconsequential compared to other recent life events. But every pitch he throws, every batter he whiffs, every inning he logs for the Miami Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate is crucial to reaching his ultimate dream. Because even more tantalizingly close to Walkinshaw this week was Fenway Park, just an hour down the Mass Turnpike from Polar Park.
Or, for that matter, Citi Field, home of the Mets, where the Marlins will be for a four-game series beginning next Thursday.
PEORIA, AZ – MARCH 14: Jake Walkinshaw #16 of the Athletics pitches during the game between the Athletics and the San Diego Padres at Peoria Sports Complex on Friday, March 14, 2025 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Marison Bilagody/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Marison Bilagody/MLB Photos via Getty Images
It’s all enough within reach for Walkinshaw, after seven minor-league seasons, a global pandemic and a pair of Tommy John surgeries, to keep striving for his dream.
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“Somebody told me pretty early on, if you still have a jersey on your back, you still have a chance,” he told CT Insider. “That’s kind of what I’m living by. If you told me when I was 18 years old that I’d be playing any kind of baseball at 30, I’d say, ‘Sign me up.’ The fact that I’m one step away from the majors, it’s really cool. I try not to take it for granted.”
For the first time in his pro career, Walkinshaw is pitching for a different organization than the one that drafted him back in the 36th round back in 2019. He had spent his entire career in the Oakland A’s (now just the Athletics’) organization, making it up to Triple-A for the first time last year. He spent the entire season with the Las Vegas Aviators, going 4-4 in 36 outings with a 4.89 ERA.
And if that ERA doesn’t sound too great, keep in mind that Las Vegas’ home ballpark (and, in fact, mostly all of the Pacific Coast League’s ballparks) is very much a hitter’s paradise and pitcher’s nightmare.
Still, over the winter, the Athletics didn’t re-sign him. And after a Zoom call with the Marlins, he was happy to join a new organization that had a vision to make him a better pitcher.
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Despite putting up relatively good overall numbers last season in Vegas, Walkinshaw only struck out 33 batters in 53.1 innings.
“I knew I had to strike out more guys,” he said. “I didn’t exactly know how.”
Former Seymour High ace Jake Wakinshaw has pitched well out of bullpen for Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
Tim Davis/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
The Marlins had some ideas: add a hard slider to his repertoire alongside his fastball, sweeper and best pitch, a sinker. And throw that sinker, the pitch he gets the fewest swings and misses on, as well as his fastball a little less.
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“They’re not going to put the first-pitch sinker in play,” Walkinshaw noted. “Now, it’s maybe a take on a slider, or a swing-and-miss. And now they’re not expecting as many fastballs, so the fastballs will play up because they’re only seeing them a third of the time.”
It’s all worked out pretty well so far. Entering this weekend’s action at Polar Park, Walkinshaw had a 4.08 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 16 relief outings. Batters are hitting just .213 off him.
More importantly, he’s racked up 22 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched.
And so, there was Jake Walkinshaw this week, two hours from home, 90 minutes from his alma mater, an hour (or a few more strikeouts) from his big-league dreams. He was hoping his grandparents, Frank and Carolyn, who hadn’t seen him pitch since college, would be able to make the trip on Friday night.
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He’s not giving up on his dream anytime soon. It certainly helps that minor-league baseball conditions (schedule, travel, accommodations, pay) are infinitely better than even when Walkinshaw first turned pro seven years ago.
“Guys don’t have to make the decision of, ‘Do I need to quit because I need to afford rent,’ or anything like that,” he noted. “You can’t be silly with your money, but you get enough to survive on a minor-league salary.”
Still, that first call to the major leagues remains so tantalizingly close.
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“When it comes to getting an opportunity, obviously you have to perform. But, it’s a timing thing. Sometimes it takes a little luck for the timing to be on your side. The longer I can stick around and put up some zeroes …”
… the better the chance for Jake Walkinshaw to be pitching in the major leagues. Who knows, maybe at Citi Field next week?