Former Riverside Poly High teammates Barnes and Marisnick reunite at World Series
Around this time last year, a Dodger and a Houston Astro were training together in Riverside. Every weekday through January, competition between them, or talk of one, was an absolute priority.
Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes and Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick both attended Riverside Poly High, one year apart in school. Last winter, they met at Riverside’s 108 Performance Academy, where they both worked on revamping their swings with founder Eugene Bleecker, a sports-science practitioner.
“That they’re both in the World Series is unbelievable,” Bleecker said this week. “It’s been an amazing ride.”
Barnes was the Dodgers’ starting catcher in Game 1 on Tuesday. Marisnick has not made a playoff roster for the Astros for one reason: He still hasn’t recaptured his swing while recovering from a broken thumb sustained during a game against the Angels in September.
Bleecker attended Tuesday’s opener and later this week plans to catch a flight to Houston to attend a game there. Barnes and Marisnick are the first big leaguers to train at his facility, and he expressed pride in their accomplishments this season. Both men experienced career years in 2017.
Barnes, who batted .289 with eight home runs and 38 runs batted in, stole time away from Yasmani Grandal as the Dodgers’ starting catcher as the season progressed. Barnes has started seven of the club’s nine playoff games.
Marisnick, an outfielder, batted .243 with 16 home runs and 35 RBIs in 230 at-bats. He also stole nine bases.
Working with Bleecker, Marisnick overhauled his swing and unlocked more power this season than he had ever displayed in the majors or minors. Barnes made more modest modifications, seeking to understand how to adjust along with major league pitching, and learning how to use the power of his hands in his swing.
Sometime this summer, Bleecker said, he received a succinct text from Barnes: When he got his hands up early within his swing, he felt right. When he didn’t, he felt wrong.
Barnes and Marisnick text each other regularly. When their teams started fast in the first third of the regular season, the prospect of a World Series matchup became more of a possibility.
“I think there was this little [thought] when I talked to him like, ‘Hey, we might play in the World Series against each other,’” Barnes said. “To actually do it is cool.”
Marisnick, 26, teased that were he playing he’d try to steal on Barnes as soon as he found his way on base. Marisnick was a third-round pick by the Astros out of Riverside Poly in 2009. Barnes, 27, attended Arizona State and was a ninth-round pick by the Miami Marlins. He came to the Dodgers in the deal that sent Dee Gordon to Miami.
“It’s a surreal feeling to grow up playing with a kid and get a chance to play against him in the World Series,” Marisnick said. “Lining up across from him would be a lot of fun.”
Bleecker said the friends were funny together.
“Austin Barnes, his mentality towards everything in life is just to be a fighter,” Bleecker said. “He was always joking with Jake that he was going to beat him up.”
Marisnick, who is 6 feet 4, 220 pounds, has six inches and 30 pounds on Barnes, but Bleecker said it didn’t matter to the Dodgers catcher.
“Austin doesn’t care,” Bleecker said, laughing. “He will will himself to find a way to accomplish anything.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series
Follow Pedro Moura on Twitter @pedromoura
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