Thoughts on Chris Marrero
by fuzzy14eva on Jun 27, 2009 4:45 PM EDT
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PrintI'm wondering what everyone thinks of Chris Marrero. I've had my eye on him for some time and know that he got hurt last year, but I've seen some high praise for him. He was compared to Travis Snider, who I considered one of the best prospects coming into this season, and was only slightly edged out: http://www.theprospectcorner.blogspot.com/2008/01/travis-snider-vs-chris-marrero.html.
He's being groomed to fill the National's whole at 1st Base, and has been widely considered their top prospect by far.
What kind of potential does this kid have and when is he going to start seeing some major league action? He's only in A+ right now, so I would expect a promotion to AA before the end of the season. It seems like he would then at least start next season in AA and be in AAA by mid season, which would lead to a September call-up.
When should he be expected to arrive in the majors? Considering the Nat's hole at 1st base, I would expect it to be sooner than what it looks like...
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 17 | Nationals | GULF | Rook | WSN | 22 | 91 | 81 | 10 | 25 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 19 | .309 | .374 | .420 | .793 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | 18 | 2 Teams | 2 Lgs | A_adv-A | WSN | 125 | 533 | 477 | 71 | 131 | 25 | 3 | 23 | 88 | 0 | 4 | 46 | 102 | .275 | .338 | .484 | .822 | 231 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 2007 | 18 | Hagerstown | SALL | A | WSN | 57 | 243 | 222 | 31 | 65 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 53 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 39 | .293 | .337 | .545 | .882 | 121 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 2007 | 18 | Potomac | CARL | A_adv | WSN | 68 | 290 | 255 | 40 | 66 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 63 | .259 | .338 | .431 | .769 | 110 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2008 | 19 | Potomac | CARL | A_adv | WSN | 70 | 289 | 256 | 40 | 64 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 55 | .250 | .325 | .453 | .778 | 116 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2009 | 20 | Potomac | CARL | A_adv | WSN | 66 | 277 | 252 | 34 | 71 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 61 | .282 | .339 | .421 | .760 | 106 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 Seasons | 283 | 1190 | 1066 | 155 | 291 | 61 | 6 | 41 | 179 | 2 | 7 | 99 | 237 | .273 | .338 | .457 | .795 | 487 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 8 | |||||
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A+
My issue is the 1000 AB at A+ ball. While he has been young for every AB at that level (18,19,20) compared to the league, at what point does his performance this season look negative? He is basically repeating the league despite injury.
If I were the nationals I would bump him to AA and see what he can do? I’d rather him have 700 AB in AA by next season, than 1200 in A+ before I even “challenge” him with AB in AA.
His power doesn’t disappear over night, but he has been disappointing.
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The Natinals have a hole at 1B? I think Johnson, Dunn, and Willingham would disagree with you. While Dunn and Willingham don’t play there now, if Johnson does get moved they will. All look to be better options than Marrero in the next few years at least.
And he’s not their top prospect, much less than by far. Zimmermann was until he lost prospect status and now Norris is. With Strasburg being it in a couple months.
If he wants a promotion he might want to start improving at High A because it doesn’t look like he has yet to in his 850 PA there so far. Granted he’s still young, but those aren’t numbers to get you promoted for, especially for a 1B. If he can get himself over .800 OPS mark to end the the season he might get to start next season in Double A, but if not he could be back in High A again. Which really isn’t such an awful thing as he still hasn’t turned 21 yet.
Marrero
I was one of the big voices in favor of Chris Marrero vs Travis Snider heading into last season. This is what I think. At some point, you’ve got to improve. He’s getting older, but not better. He’s putting up the exact same numbers in A+ at 20 that he did at 19 and 18. There’s something to be said for consistancy, but at this age, you want/need to see improvement. That said, I don’t know what the Nats are waiting for to promote him to AA. If there’s something left for him to learn in A-ball, he’s obviously not going to learn it.
Promotion?
A 1B needs to OPS better than .780 to earn one of the toughest promotions in baseball – IMO.
um
A) He’s 20. It’d be nice if he showed a little more bat, but he’s going to improve as he gets older. He’s not even close to a finished product and while obviously he’ll be held to a very high standard as he approaches the major leagues, that time hasn’t come yet and won’t be here for at least another couple of years, most likely. The point isn’t for him to go out and DOMINATE right now, it’s about Marrero learning the skills that he’ll need to be successful at the highest levels of competition.
B) It’s not uncommon for a player to just need a change of scenery sometimes, especially young players. After two full seasons worth of ABs at a level, if his production isn’t moving in a positive direction, he’s probably learned everything he possibly could there. At that point, changes of some sort need to occur, whether it involves moving him to a less stressful position (although he’s already at 1B), a trade (probably not even a consideration), or a move to a different level of competition.
C) This one might be a little obvious – but Marrero was a first round pick. His production hasn’t been stellar, but it’s been steady and decent. If the ML organization thinks he should be a Potomac National for the rest of his life, they’re basically saying that they know they definitely screwed up despite the fact that he’s only 20 years old with a solid bat in A ball, which would be an utterly absurd conclusion to make. He’s not exactly Billy Rowell.
Disagree
Obviously we don’t see eye-to-eye on this but I’d rather see him get demoted than promoted. I just think that a lot of baseball is about confidence and I have seen guys hit well in A+ and then get overmatched in AA. I think him going to AA and getting it handed to him for a while isn’t going to help.
But I do see your point about maybe needing a shakeup to change the routine.
Getting demoted isn't a great way to give someone confidence.
Remember: baseball guys... baseball...
Marrero
About the only thing I see positive in his line since 2007 is Carolina League consistency.
20 is young for the Carolina League – but not that young. Doing a quick survey, Jeff Francoeur, Colby Rasmus, James Loney, Andy LaRoche, Andrew McCrutchen, and Jason Upton were all in AA at younger ages. In some cases (Loney, Rasmus) their High A performance at 19 or 20 did not look much better, if even at all better, than Marrero’s at the same age.
The time has probably come to move Marrero up to AA and see what they have. That the Nationals have resisted this natural progression tells me that they see something in his play or his make-up that has them convinced he cannot make that jump.
???
20 is VERY young for the Carolina League. The average player age there is about 23, and while that figure is skewed some by “non-prospects” many former college players spend part/all of their first full pro season at age 21-23 there.
The Nats could have had Marrero in short-season ball in 2007, and the Sally League in 2008, with a promotion to the Carolina League only coming this year. That would have been a “natural” schedule of progression for a prep pick with decent numbers, but the Nationals pushed him ahead of that.
I don’t even get this discussion . . .it’s like some of you are just hoping this guy fails. He has an OPS right around the league average despite being young for the league. He doesn’t strike out an obscene percentage of the time and hits for a decent batting average. He DOES have a considerable L/R split, that’s about the worst I can find on the guy.
I’m not trying to say that he’s a great prospect, but Marrero is a solid prospect.
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