SE: New Father and K-State Product Evan Marshall Reaches MLB Again, Chasing Long-Term Goals on Mound, in Education
May 11, 2018 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Asked what the last week of his life has been like, Evan Marshall starts his answer with, "dreams come true." About eight minutes later he ends it with, "it's been a hell of a couple days."
The lead-up to Marshall's promotion from the AAA Columbus Clippers to the Cleveland Indians last week was undoubtedly hectic, emotional and life changing.
Marshall threw a scoreless inning for Columbus on Sunday, April 29. After the game, he flew home to Wichita and watched his wife give birth to their first child, a boy named Ryan Patrick Marshall on Monday, April 30, at 3:07 p.m.
Three days later, on one hour of sleep, the former K-State pitcher flew back to Columbus and got called up by the Cleveland Indians the same day. He then took a two-and-a-half hour, $300-plus Uber ride north to Cleveland and proceeded to strike out former AL MVP Josh Donaldson in his Indians debut.
"That's a heck of a way to welcome yourself back to the big leagues," Marshall said in an interview with K-State Sports Extra last Saturday.
Marshall retired the next batter he faced to end the eighth inning of an eventual 13-4 win, which he points out marked Terry Francona's 1,500thcareer victory. A few hours later, Marshall was on a private plane to New York for a three-game series with the Yankees. The next day, after sleeping "like a baby," he took a K-State Accounting 241 test online while in a hotel room in Manhattan, New York.
"I did just good enough, which I was thrilled about. Good but not great but not bad, right in the middle zone of what I needed," Marshall said, adding: "I went back to sleep for two more hours."
***
As good as life is now for Marshall, he has a visual reminder — a scar on his scalp —of how close so much of it was to never happening.
His chance with the Indians, where a slight change in spring training has made all the difference. His decision to start going after his bachelor's degree again through K-State. His life. His son's life.
All of these current celebrations nearly never took place when, on August 4, 2015, Marshall was struck in the head by a 105 mile-per-hour line drive. The California native had to fight for his life, let alone his baseball career. When he survived, he brought a new perspective into his life.
"It's been so different since August 4. When you go through that, whether it's on a baseball field or a car accident or whatever it is, whatever takes you to that moment where you're having to face your own mortality, you come out the other side with a different appreciation," Marshall said. "I specifically remember walking out of the hospital and thinking how bright the sun was and how blue the sky was and just how good food tasted and really just embracing all the little things I was taking for granted before, and how blessed and thankful I was to get to enjoy them some more."
The near-death experience had the same affect when it came to baseball.
Marshall made it back to the big leagues for brief stints in 2016 and 2017, with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners, respectively. His ERA was not great with either team, averaging out to 7.54 between both stops. He rode the self-described "struggle bus" and a handful of actual busses back to AAA during those two seasons.
The former Wildcat embraced the ride, however, because even painful experiences were reminders of life, something he nearly lost.
"Most of all, getting to have a son when that was close to not being able to happen, but every little moment has been sweeter since then," Marshall said. "There have been some moments that were heartbreaking and crushing on the field, but I still kept in mind that I was able to experience them and it's better to have done that than the alternative."
***
In spring training this year with Cleveland, Marshall noticed a trend between Corey Kluber, last year's AL Cy Young winner, and lockdown bullpen options like Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.
From watching those three and a few other Indian pitchers, Marshall saw each step in a way that kept the ball hidden longer. The right-handed pitcher then studied video of himself pitching and saw the difference: He had been stepping the opposite way as his current teammates, allowing hitters to track his pitches sooner.
"Specifically Corey Kluber, he turns his foot on the rubber toward the third base just a little bit. He pulls his heel away from the rubber and then steps normally," Marshall said. "That's the adjustment I made. I pulled my heel away from the rubber a little bit, and I'm stepping about four inches closer to the third base side than I had been. With all the technology in today's game, I saw what that looked like from the home plate view and I looked at before-and-afters and the ball is hidden longer. The results have been really great."
The results have been a 0.84 ERA this season with Columbus in 10 2/3 innings of work. With the Indians, Marshall added a scoreless inning of work with one hit allowed in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Milwaukee, keeping this season's MLB ERA at 0.00 and bumping his WHIP to 0.60 in 1 2/3 innings.
A small sample size, sure, but Marshall feels like he's found the missing "puzzle piece." He's been looking for this piece, any piece, in the years that followed his breakout rookie season in 2014, when he recorded a 2.74 ERA in 57 games and 49 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks.
"It's crazy how you look back and think, 'Why didn't I think about this two years ago when I was riding the shuttle back and forth between AAA and the big leagues?' Maybe that would have been the key," Marshall said. "This feels like the closest I've ever been to how I threw in 2014. It seems so easy to identify and so simple now that you know what it is, but for three years it was like the missing puzzle piece and I didn't have it. It feels like everything I'm doing right now seems to have turned up just a tick from where I've been the last couple of years."
Marshall was one of 13 Cleveland pitchers to put in at least 10 innings of work in spring training. His 4.35 ERA in 10 1/3 innings during spring training was better than five of the Indians' pitchers to make the initial 25-man roster, a disappointment and a challenge Marshall accepted.
"It was up to me to go to AAA and sort of prove them wrong," he said, "and less than a month later I'm up and all is forgiven and forgotten."
This promotion to the big leagues was like every one Marshall had experienced before in one way, it felt self-validating.
"Each one's equally exciting because there's that feeling of I'm going back to where I think I belong, and that's very satisfying," Marshall, who came up when Nick Goody was put on the 10-day DL, said. "But sometimes there's writing on the wall where you know this is just for a day or two or whatever, but in this instance, replacing a guy who got hurt, who had a pretty prominent role in this bullpen, it seems like there's opportunity for upward movement in the company that is the bullpen."
Marshall is also aware that life in baseball, especially as a relief pitcher, is typically not lengthy. It's why he started working toward his degree again last fall through K-State's online courses.
"Having ridden the struggle bus in baseball every now and then, you are quickly reminded that as fast you were tossed into the game and given this money and benefits, they can disappear quickly," Marshall said. "And now what?"
A fourth-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft as a junior out of K-State, Marshall took nine hours last fall and is finishing up six for this spring semester. He plans to take another three hours in the summer.
K-State, he said he's learned through this process, "provides a great avenue" for former student-athletes looking to finish up their degree.
"They really, really encourage their ex student-athletes to continue their education and they'll help you with scholarships or whatever they need to do to get you across the finish line," he said. "Jamie Hamor, the academic advisor for the baseball team, she is really just an angel, one of my favorite parts about K-State, if not my absolutely favorite. She just helps me with whatever I need. She's kind of my boots on the ground there in Manhattan. She's been a saint for me."
When asked how close he is to finishing up his degree, Marshall joked "like a decade." Truthfully, he's still three or four years away at his current pace, which he hopes to keep because that means he'll still be playing professional baseball.
It's important to Marshall, however, to start preparing for what's next. Fatherhood will do that.
"Being a father, if you ever need some motivation, there it is because it's no longer providing for myself. It's about a long-term future for the kid," Marshall said. "There will be a life after baseball for me. It's nice to keep that in mind because I am more than just a baseball player. While I would love to get 12 years of big league time, retire when I'm 36 and collect my pension when I'm 60, the likelihood of that happening is slim, just based on the numbers. One percent of one percent of one percent get to do that. That's certainly where my goals lie, but I will be prepared for anything less than that."
Asked what the last week of his life has been like, Evan Marshall starts his answer with, "dreams come true." About eight minutes later he ends it with, "it's been a hell of a couple days."
The lead-up to Marshall's promotion from the AAA Columbus Clippers to the Cleveland Indians last week was undoubtedly hectic, emotional and life changing.
Marshall threw a scoreless inning for Columbus on Sunday, April 29. After the game, he flew home to Wichita and watched his wife give birth to their first child, a boy named Ryan Patrick Marshall on Monday, April 30, at 3:07 p.m.
Three days later, on one hour of sleep, the former K-State pitcher flew back to Columbus and got called up by the Cleveland Indians the same day. He then took a two-and-a-half hour, $300-plus Uber ride north to Cleveland and proceeded to strike out former AL MVP Josh Donaldson in his Indians debut.
"That's a heck of a way to welcome yourself back to the big leagues," Marshall said in an interview with K-State Sports Extra last Saturday.
Marshall retired the next batter he faced to end the eighth inning of an eventual 13-4 win, which he points out marked Terry Francona's 1,500thcareer victory. A few hours later, Marshall was on a private plane to New York for a three-game series with the Yankees. The next day, after sleeping "like a baby," he took a K-State Accounting 241 test online while in a hotel room in Manhattan, New York.
"I did just good enough, which I was thrilled about. Good but not great but not bad, right in the middle zone of what I needed," Marshall said, adding: "I went back to sleep for two more hours."
***
As good as life is now for Marshall, he has a visual reminder — a scar on his scalp —of how close so much of it was to never happening.
His chance with the Indians, where a slight change in spring training has made all the difference. His decision to start going after his bachelor's degree again through K-State. His life. His son's life.
All of these current celebrations nearly never took place when, on August 4, 2015, Marshall was struck in the head by a 105 mile-per-hour line drive. The California native had to fight for his life, let alone his baseball career. When he survived, he brought a new perspective into his life.
"It's been so different since August 4. When you go through that, whether it's on a baseball field or a car accident or whatever it is, whatever takes you to that moment where you're having to face your own mortality, you come out the other side with a different appreciation," Marshall said. "I specifically remember walking out of the hospital and thinking how bright the sun was and how blue the sky was and just how good food tasted and really just embracing all the little things I was taking for granted before, and how blessed and thankful I was to get to enjoy them some more."
The near-death experience had the same affect when it came to baseball.
Marshall made it back to the big leagues for brief stints in 2016 and 2017, with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners, respectively. His ERA was not great with either team, averaging out to 7.54 between both stops. He rode the self-described "struggle bus" and a handful of actual busses back to AAA during those two seasons.
The former Wildcat embraced the ride, however, because even painful experiences were reminders of life, something he nearly lost.
"Most of all, getting to have a son when that was close to not being able to happen, but every little moment has been sweeter since then," Marshall said. "There have been some moments that were heartbreaking and crushing on the field, but I still kept in mind that I was able to experience them and it's better to have done that than the alternative."
***
In spring training this year with Cleveland, Marshall noticed a trend between Corey Kluber, last year's AL Cy Young winner, and lockdown bullpen options like Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.
From watching those three and a few other Indian pitchers, Marshall saw each step in a way that kept the ball hidden longer. The right-handed pitcher then studied video of himself pitching and saw the difference: He had been stepping the opposite way as his current teammates, allowing hitters to track his pitches sooner.
"Specifically Corey Kluber, he turns his foot on the rubber toward the third base just a little bit. He pulls his heel away from the rubber and then steps normally," Marshall said. "That's the adjustment I made. I pulled my heel away from the rubber a little bit, and I'm stepping about four inches closer to the third base side than I had been. With all the technology in today's game, I saw what that looked like from the home plate view and I looked at before-and-afters and the ball is hidden longer. The results have been really great."
The results have been a 0.84 ERA this season with Columbus in 10 2/3 innings of work. With the Indians, Marshall added a scoreless inning of work with one hit allowed in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Milwaukee, keeping this season's MLB ERA at 0.00 and bumping his WHIP to 0.60 in 1 2/3 innings.
A small sample size, sure, but Marshall feels like he's found the missing "puzzle piece." He's been looking for this piece, any piece, in the years that followed his breakout rookie season in 2014, when he recorded a 2.74 ERA in 57 games and 49 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks.
"It's crazy how you look back and think, 'Why didn't I think about this two years ago when I was riding the shuttle back and forth between AAA and the big leagues?' Maybe that would have been the key," Marshall said. "This feels like the closest I've ever been to how I threw in 2014. It seems so easy to identify and so simple now that you know what it is, but for three years it was like the missing puzzle piece and I didn't have it. It feels like everything I'm doing right now seems to have turned up just a tick from where I've been the last couple of years."
***
Marshall was one of 13 Cleveland pitchers to put in at least 10 innings of work in spring training. His 4.35 ERA in 10 1/3 innings during spring training was better than five of the Indians' pitchers to make the initial 25-man roster, a disappointment and a challenge Marshall accepted.
"It was up to me to go to AAA and sort of prove them wrong," he said, "and less than a month later I'm up and all is forgiven and forgotten."
This promotion to the big leagues was like every one Marshall had experienced before in one way, it felt self-validating.
"Each one's equally exciting because there's that feeling of I'm going back to where I think I belong, and that's very satisfying," Marshall, who came up when Nick Goody was put on the 10-day DL, said. "But sometimes there's writing on the wall where you know this is just for a day or two or whatever, but in this instance, replacing a guy who got hurt, who had a pretty prominent role in this bullpen, it seems like there's opportunity for upward movement in the company that is the bullpen."
Marshall is also aware that life in baseball, especially as a relief pitcher, is typically not lengthy. It's why he started working toward his degree again last fall through K-State's online courses.
"Having ridden the struggle bus in baseball every now and then, you are quickly reminded that as fast you were tossed into the game and given this money and benefits, they can disappear quickly," Marshall said. "And now what?"
A fourth-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft as a junior out of K-State, Marshall took nine hours last fall and is finishing up six for this spring semester. He plans to take another three hours in the summer.
K-State, he said he's learned through this process, "provides a great avenue" for former student-athletes looking to finish up their degree.
"They really, really encourage their ex student-athletes to continue their education and they'll help you with scholarships or whatever they need to do to get you across the finish line," he said. "Jamie Hamor, the academic advisor for the baseball team, she is really just an angel, one of my favorite parts about K-State, if not my absolutely favorite. She just helps me with whatever I need. She's kind of my boots on the ground there in Manhattan. She's been a saint for me."
When asked how close he is to finishing up his degree, Marshall joked "like a decade." Truthfully, he's still three or four years away at his current pace, which he hopes to keep because that means he'll still be playing professional baseball.
It's important to Marshall, however, to start preparing for what's next. Fatherhood will do that.
"Being a father, if you ever need some motivation, there it is because it's no longer providing for myself. It's about a long-term future for the kid," Marshall said. "There will be a life after baseball for me. It's nice to keep that in mind because I am more than just a baseball player. While I would love to get 12 years of big league time, retire when I'm 36 and collect my pension when I'm 60, the likelihood of that happening is slim, just based on the numbers. One percent of one percent of one percent get to do that. That's certainly where my goals lie, but I will be prepared for anything less than that."
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