Washington Nationals Top-15 Prospects of 2010, No’s 6 – 15

ALSO SEE – Nationals Top Prospects, No’s 1 – 5

Grades are based on a prospect’s projected value over the course of his career and how likely it is that prospect will fulfill his projected value. Various factors are accounted for including upside, red flags, actual performance, and closeness to the majors. See the 2010 Prospect Primer for more information as it relates to prospect grading and philosophy.

Hitters must have 100 or fewer Major League ABs to qualify for this list. Starting pitchers must have 50 or fewer Major League innings to qualify for this list. Relief pitchers must have 25 or fewer Major League innings to qualify for this list. Ages are listed as of May 1st, 2010. Levels are based on the highest level in which a prospect played in 2009. All grades are subject to change based on any new information I receive before the season starts.

If you need to reach me in any way, please contact me via e-mail or post a comment at the bottom of the page and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. The first two prospects are available for everybody to read.

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Player Grades
Contact – 45 Now | 55 Future
Power – 50 | 60
Discipline – 45 | 55
Speed – 35 | 35
Defense – 45 | 50
Arm – 50 | 50
Instincts – 50 | 60
ETA – 2012
Final Grade – B-

Body Type – He’s big, but not particularly athletic

Scouting Report

The first round pick from 2006 finally reached Double-A last season.

Ever since Chris Marrero was promoted during his 2007 breakout season, from Single-A Hagerstown to A+ Potomac, Marrero has been a mainstay there. If it were up to me, I’d have challenged him 2008 and started him in Double-A, see if he could figure things out on his own.

Instead, he stayed in Potomac the entire season and put up a .785 OPS, this after putting up a .769 OPS in 290 PAs the prior year. If that weren’t enough, Marrero started the 2009 season again in Potomac and stayed there for 469 more PAs before the team finally promoted him.

I almost see that as being wasted development time because by the time he was promoted to Double-A, he should have already been adjusted to that level of pitching and hopefully ready for Triple-A.

Marrero has only improved by gradual increments each year, but it has mostly come from a better BABIP. The walks, however, are down from his first session in Potomac, and the strikeouts and power roughly remained the same.

Marrero has a nice right handed swing but leaves himself vulnerable to off-speed stuff away because of his habit of “stepping in the bucket”, which is a term used for players that don’t stride and plant straight ahead…they essentially plant in an open stance. It’s something Marrero has put a lot of work into, but he hasn’t been able to kick the habit entirely.

*Credit to David Pratt (Tons of high quality video and definitely worth checking out)

In the clip above, I like how Marrero is letting the ball travel deep into his hitting zone. But in this instance, he’s actually letting it travel too deep and as a result, he’s locking up his arms. At the point of contact, Marrero’s bat is actually in a linear trajectory and as a result, the ball comes off the bat in a linear fashion. Had he made contact with the pitch a little earlier, he may have been able to drive the ball deep to the outfield.

Marrero has good bat speed and keeps his swing relatively short. He has plus raw power that he’s still tapping into. However, his swing does get long at times and when he’s not going well, he swings at pitches he shouldn’t.

For Marrero, his bat will have to carry him because he’s a below average defender at first base, the position where one’s bat carries the most importance.

Best Case Outcome – Above average everyday first baseman

More Likely Outcome – Average everyday first baseman

Player Grades
Contact – 40 Now | 60 Future
Power – 30 | 40
Discipline – 40 | 55
Speed – 65 | 65
Defense – 55 | 60
Arm – 55 | 55
Instincts – 50 | 60
ETA – 2015
Final Grade – C+

Body Type – Thin frame…some projection, but not a lot

Scouting Report

Eury Perez just completed his first season in the Gulf Coast League, but we actually have some data on him that goes back to his first season in 2007 with the Nationals’ Dominican Summer League affiliate.

Over the past three years, Perez has continued to improve his contact rate. His K% has dropped from 19.6% to 13.9% to 9.8% in 2009. And while he’s never going to hit for much power, he’s at least showing signs of improvement by also upping his ISO-power in each of the last three seasons.

The negative aspect here is that Perez’s BB% has also dropped from 16.1% to 11.8% to 7.4% over the last three years. The glass-half-full look at that decline is that he showed such discipline and patience to begin with.

Perez has a knack for making hard contact, using the entire field to his advantage. He hit the ball on the ground far more than years prior and hit less line drives as a result. I just hope he doesn’t start trying to hit the ball on the ground intentionally to take advantage of his speed. I’d rather to see him look to hit as many line drives as possible. When you start slapping at the ball on the ground, you become a one-dimensional player.

Defensively, Perez makes use of close to plus-plus speed and could be a plus defender in time.

Best Case Outcome – Juan Pierre with more patience? Sounds like it and that’s not a bad thing as long as he’s kept in centerfield

More Likely Outcome – Too soon to say

Brief Summary on Prospects 8 – 14

8. Destin Hood | OF | Grade – C+ – Physical and athletic outfielder still very raw, but flashed his potential in the GCL

9. Juan Jaime | RHP | Grade – C+ – Jaime stands out from the other right handers after Strasburg and Storen because of his tremendous arm strength…needs another pitch though

10. Michael Burgess | RF | Grade – C+ – Big time power, but long swing needs to be fixed or he’s going to fizzle out at higher levels

11. Jeff Kobernus | 2b | Grade – C – Not as high on him as others are, but he’s an athletic second baseman with a solid college track record and the Nationals organization doesn’t have many of those

12. Brad Meyers | RHP | Grade – C – Control/command guy with average stuff, but a deep repertoire

13. Aaron Thompson | LHP | Grade – C – Another control/command pitcher with average stuff…doesn’t have the command that Meyers does

14. A.J. Morris | RHP | Grade – C – Maybe the best pure stuff of all the righty control artists, but he needs a third pitch to make it as a starter at the MLB level

15. Paul Demny | RHP | Grade – C – Stands out a bit because of his fastball/curveball combination, but he’s very inconsistent…probably profiles better out of the bullpen

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HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order) – J.P. Ramirez (OF) | Adrian Nieto (C) | William Atwood (RHP) | J.R. Higley (OF) | Nathan Karns (RHP) | Marco Estrada (RHP) | Jeff Mandel (RHP) | Brad Peacock (RHP) | Sandy Leon (C) | Trevor Holder (RHP) | Josh Smoker (LHP) | Luis Atilano (RHP) | Pat Lehman (RHP) | Brandon King (RHP)

ALSO SEE – Nationals Top Prospects, No’s 1 – 5

UP NEXT – Chicago White Sox Top Prospects, No’s 1 – 5

Other References and Resources Used for This Article – First Inning and Minor League Splits