Be completely honest, does anyone know who Chris Marrero is? Ok, most do, but how many of those that answered “yes” thought to themselves “oh, I remember that name” because you actually forgot about him and thought he was either out of baseball or just a bust of a prospect? And how many of you are clicking his Baseball-Reference link right now trying to figure out who he is?
Now that the survey is over, a lot of us remember Chris Marrero as the 17 year old kid taken in the first round by the Washington Nationals back in 2006. The Nationals moved him along pretty aggressively in 2007 with Marrero splitting time between A-ball and High-A ball as an 18 year old. He hit .275/.338/.484 with 23 homeruns and 25 doubles in only 477 at-bats as one of the five or so youngest players in the league. Baseball America took notice and Marrero was ranked 27th on their annual prospect list prior to the 2008 season. The bat looked like it had 35 homerun power in it but scouts did notice that his defense was atrocious and that he would wind up at first base.
In 2008 he played the entire year in High-A ball as, still, one of the youngest players in the league but struggled this time around and hit only .250/.325/.453 before breaking his right fibula and ending his season. The line is actually not bad for a 19 year old in High-A but by this time he was relegated to full-time first base duty.
He came back healthy in 2009 repeating High-A ball, again, but this time he hit .287/.360/.464 in 469 plate appearances as a 20 year old, which is still young for the league, and earned a promotion to Double-A where he hit .267/.345/.387 in a very short stint. Sadly, though, he was off most prospect lists.
He got to start 2010 in Double-A and impressed with the bat as a 21 year old where the average age was over 24. He hit .294/.350/.450 with 18 homeruns and 28 doubles in 524 at-bats but saw his walk rate drop to its lowest mark since he was 18 years old. Nevertheless, the Nationals would send him to start the 2011 season in Triple-A.
Marrero was not even close to appearing on top 100 prospect lists and ESPN’s Keith Law had him ranked only 9th in his own organization and John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com had him 13th. The complaint about Marrero is that he can hit but not enough to stay at first base and he cannot play any other position outside of first base and his ability to even play first base has been mightily questioned after 20 errors in 2009 and 18 in 2010.
Marrero, who had seemed completely forgotten by now, was still only 22 years old and starting the 2011 season in Triple-A where the average age is just under 27 years old. Marrero has hit .301/.377/.454 so far this year with 30 doubles and 14 homeruns in 469 at-bats and nice looking 10.7% walk rate. He has hit 29% better than the league average (129 wRC+) and cut the errors down to 5 so far this year. Now, I am personally more concerned about range than errors but the drop is significant enough that it needed to be pointed out.
So, what is next for the kid who just turned 23? He is currently blocked in the Majors by Mike Morse and his hot bat but if the Nationals feel Marrero is ready for some Major League action then Morse can play a corner outfield position. Come January of 2012, when prospect lists are being revealed, I doubt we will see the name Chris Marrero on a single top 100 list but the kid can hit and wants us all to remember his name.
-Jonathan C. Mitchell can be found writing about the Tampa Bay Rays at DRaysBay and you can follow him on twitter at @FigureFilbert and follow MLBdirt at @MLBdirt
