Yankees’ Ron Marinaccio reflects on rookie season, journey from Toms River to big leaguer
TAMPA — Yankees right-hander Ron Marinaccio still gets chills thinking about it. In just over one year, the Toms River, N.J., native transformed from a wide-eyed prospect with untapped potential in the upper levels of the Yankees’ farm system to an important bullpen piece at the big-league level.
What would the kid that was once shining in Toms River Little League — dreaming of someday pitching in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium — think if he could see himself now?
“It wasn’t until far into my Triple-A season in 2021 that I even thought about the idea of being called up just because it seemed so far away when that year started,” Marinaccio told NJ Advance Media on Sunday. “You can’t really imagine getting to this point honestly. You’re always working. It’s hard to say ‘I’m going to make it’ when you see so many other guys fail.”
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On the mound, the 2022 season couldn’t have been more rewarding. Marinaccio was one of the best relievers in baseball for a stretch last summer, allowing only one earned run in 27.1 innings in a three-month span. Leaning on his 80-grade changeup and indestructible confidence, Marinaccio finished his rookie season with a 2.05 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 44 frames.
It all happened so fast. This time last year, Marinaccio had an auxiliary locker in the Yankees’ clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field, a recent addition to the 40-man roster with an outside shot of making the team.
Now, he’s in a permanent locker next to starters Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole.
It wasn’t until this past offseason — while he was rehabbing from a shin injury that kept him out for the playoffs — that Marinaccio was able to take a step back. Back in his hometown in the winter, the former Toms River North High School star endeavored to pay it forward, working as a pitching instructor at a local baseball camp. All of a sudden, Marinaccio was signing more autographs, taking more pictures for social media and answering more questions about how he learned to throw his pitches.
He called himself a “glimmer of hope” for those aspiring ballplayers, proof that you don’t have to be a first-round pick or a top-rated prospect to excel at the next level.
“A lot of people have said, ‘You’re the reason why I’m still playing,’” said Marinaccio, a product of the University of Delaware. “I went about my business, got a good routine and stuck with it. A lot of guys want to search for results immediately, and if they don’t get those results, then pivot from there.”
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As much as Marinaccio’s rise was meteoric over the last year and a half, he’s always been on the Yankees’ radar. Asked how much the 27-year-old has grown since his first big-league camp last spring, Yankees manager Aaron Boone chuckled.
“I don’t want to say not a lot because that’s not a great answer, but I was blown away by him last spring,” Boone said. “He jumped and got our attention right away.”
Spend some time around Marinaccio in the clubhouse and you’ll see his shy side. He admitted on Sunday that it’s taking him some time to adjust to life as a Yankee, having random people approach him outside of team facilities.
Between the lines, however, Marinaccio is ruthless, often stone-faced as he dismantles opposing hitters. Other than his stuff, that’s what stood out the most to Boone as he watched him rise to the occasion in 2022.
“He’s a little bit of a killer,” Boone said “This guy’s not afraid and he proved that all year long. Like whatever situation, whether he had success — which he had a lot of — or whether he had an outing where he struggled with it, it didn’t affect him.”
