Deven Marrero

[TheGoldenGreek33]

Deven Sommer Marrero
Born: Aug. 25, 1990 in Davie, Fla.
High School: American Heritage, Plantation, Fla.
College: Arizona State
Acquired: Draft (2012, first round, 24th overall)
Position: Shortstop
Ht.: 6-1; Wt.: 195
B/T: R/R
 
First, some background:

• Drafted by the Reds in the 17th round in 2009 (did not sign)
• His cousin Chris was a 2008 second rounder, plays first base, and currently in AAA within the Nationals' system. His other cousin Christian is also a first baseman, and currently in AA within the Braves' system. 
• Played alongside Eric Hosmer (Royals) and Adrian Nieto (Nationals) in high school, winning the Florida state and National championships in 2008 as juniors. 
• He was raised under very difficult circumstances. Read more here.

 
[tablegrid= ASU Career ]Batting AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS 2010 156 31 62 12 3 6 42 11 1 13 24 0.397 0.442 0.628 1.070 2011 207 30 66 14 3 2 20 10 5 13 29 0.319 0.354 0.444 0.799 2012 208 36 58 11 5 4 32 10 3 17 16 0.279 0.335 0.437 0.772 [/tablegrid]
 
[tablegrid= ASU Career ]Fielding PO A E F% 2010 39 87 10 0.926 2011 66 156 18 0.925 2012 75 171 14 0.946 [/tablegrid] 
 
Awards:
- 2012 First Team Pac-12 All-Conference 
- 2012 First Team Academic All-District VIII
- 2012 Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team 
- 2012 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
- 2011 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year 
- 2011 First Team Pac-12 All-Conference 
- 2011 Cape Cod League All-Star 
- 2011 ABCA Second Team All-West Region 
- 2011 Second Team Academic All-Pac-10
- 2011 Second Team Academic All-District VIII
- 2010 Collegiate Baseball First Team Freshman All-American
- 2010 NCBWA Second Team Freshman All-American
- 2010 Honorable Mention Pac-12 All-Conference
- 2010 All-Tempe Regional Team
 
Drafted by the Sox as the 24th overall pick in 2012; signed for $2.05M. Made his professional debut for Lowell after signing:
 
[tablegrid= Lowell ]Year AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS GDP OBP SLG OPS 2012 0.268 64 246 45 66 14 3 2 24 34 48 24 6 4 0.358 0.374 0.732 [/tablegrid]
 
Ranked the No. 7 prospect in the NY-Penn League:
 

Once considered a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick, Marrero hit .284/.340/.436 at Arizona State this spring, causing some scouts to question his bat. But he was also the safest bet to stay at shortstop of any player in the draft, so the Red Sox were thrilled to land him with the 24th overall pick and sign him for $2.05 million. He showed off a solid all-around tools package in his pro debut, with his defense remaining his calling card. “He was born to play the infield,” Lowell manager Bruce Crabbe said. “He’s got all the actions of a shortstop, he’s got arm strength, he plays on the run well. He positions himself well defensively and he’s not scared out there. His instincts jump out.” Offensively, Marrero stays inside the ball well with a line-drive, gap-to-gap stroke, and he flashes occasional power to his pull side. He controls the strike zone well and excels at working counts, and he could become an average hitter if he he can smooth out a little hitch in the back of his swing. He's a solid runner with good first-step quickness and baserunning instincts.

 
Ranked as BA's No. 10 prospect in the system:
 

Marrero entered 2012 as a potential No. 1 overall draft pick, but he lasted until No. 25 after hitting just .284 as a junior at Arizona State. A rare college shortstop who looks like a good bet to remain at the position, he signed with the Red Sox for $2.05 million. His cousin Chris was a Nationals first-rounder in 2006 and has appeared briefly in the majors. Marrero reads balls well and has fluid actions at shortstop, with the above-average range and arm strength to make all the plays. He can improve his focus and consistency on defense, though that can be said of most players entering pro ball. Marrero hit better with wood bats in summer play than he did with metal bats during the college season, and the Red Sox think he’ll produce at the plate. He stays inside the ball well, controls the strike zone and may flash enough pull power to hit 10 homers a year. With solid speed, a quick first step and keen instincts, he could add 20 steals a year. He isn’t in Iglesias’ class defensively, but Marrero is a plus defender with much more offensive upside. Those two represent Boston’s future at shortstop if Xander Bogaerts outgrows the position. Marrero figures to skip a level and start his first full pro season in high Class A.

 
In his first full season this year, Marrero is off to a hot start with high-Class A Salem:
 

Marrero has Xander Bogaerts and Jose Iglesias above him in the Boston system, but all he can do is focus on the task at hand after beginning his first full season with high Class A Salem. The Red Sox made Marrero their 2012 first-rounder on the strength of his offense at the shortstop position, and the early returns have been positive. He’s opened the season on a four-game hitting streak, including Monday’s game at Potomac in which he went 3-for-5 with three doubles and a stolen base.

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

Through 10 games, Marrero is hitting .286/.405/.457 in 35 AB for high Class A Salem; 7 BB/6 K's.
 
His R/L splits are massive. In 14 AB's, he's torched lefties to the tune of .429/.529/.786 with five doubles. Conversely, he's hitting just .190/.320/.238 against right-handers in 25 AB's. 
 
SSS, of course, but it might be something to keep an eye on.

 

[MakMan44]

That OBP is interesting, correct me if I'm wrong but to me that would suggest that it's not that he's having trouble against seeing the pitches against righties but some more akin to BABIP luck?

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

That OBP is interesting, correct me if I'm wrong but to me that would suggest that it's not that he's having trouble against seeing the pitches against righties but some more akin to BABIP luck?

 
Yep. Against righties, only three of his 15 BIP have went for hits, and four of the six strikeouts have been swinging. He's also walked in three of his past seven AB's. He's been better as of late, but just got off to a slow start. (Stupid to dissect SSS's, but there you go).

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

Deven went 1-4 with a single yesterday after missing the last 17 games due to a hamstring injury.
 
.291/.391/.436 in 64 PA, 9/10 BB/K, 5/5 in SB opps, has not committed an error.

 

[ji oh]

Just got his college degree from ASU:
https://asunews.asu.edu/20130529_studentgrad_marrero (as noted by http://salemsox.mlblogs.com/ )
 
"Marrero credits his mother with not only insisting that he earn his degree, but also for providing him the inspiration. Marrero’s mother, Dayln Nye-Gonzalez, is a homicide detective in the Miami-Dade Police Department. He promised his mom that he would earn a college degree.

...during the summer, fall and spring semesters, the criminology and criminal justice major could be found wherever he played reading a text book, writing a paper or participating in an online class discussion. His studiousness was the subject of good-natured ribbing from teammates."

 

[Granite Sox]

Congratulations, Deven.  Really admirable to balance the achievement of academic goals alongside professional development.

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

His bat has started to come around since the high Class A all-star break. After posting a 242/317/327 line up until that point, Marrero has been 290/377/355 in 121 PA following. Not that anyone was expecting him to rake, but it's good to see his ability to control the strike zone (14% BB rate). A 350 OBP with a +/++ glove (4 errors in 337 chances) at short is pretty impressive. He's also a perfect 18-18 on the bases. He's a smart player, and by all accounts a tireless worker. I think he finishes the year in Salem, goes to Arizona in the fall, and starts 2014 in Portland.

 

[Scoots McBoots]

Promoted to Portland per SoxProspects:

http://news.soxprospects.com/2013/08/deven-marrero-promoted-to-double.html

 

[BosRedSox5]

It seems like Marerro may be having a bit of a breakout year. We all knew he was a strong defensive shortstop, but he's starting to hit a little bit more in AA.
 
SSS, but this month he's hitting .358/.433/.528/.962 and his overall numbers are showing improvement. He's on pace to out hit any of his previous professional seasons and he's still fairly young for the Eastern League. 
 
It looks to me like he's simplified his swing.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthKLJoPURE
 
Skip to the 2 minute mark. That's him taking BP for ASU. There's a ton of movement there. He rocks back, rocks forward and starts rotating his hips a split second before he plants his lead foot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVBDuk88jCs
 
In this clip, he grounds into a double play, so it's obviously not a positive result, but it's baseball. You can do a lot of things correctly as a hitter and still have a poor result. Anyway, there's MUCH less movement in his upper body, His head stays level, and he doesn't rotate his hips until that lead foot is firmly planted. 
 
It appears to me that he's taken big steps towards improving his swing. What kind of year would he need in order to cement his status as a future starting shortstop? 

 

[Plympton91]

There was just an article on Marrero in the Herald:

http://bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/boston_red_sox/2014/06/the_minors_deven_marrero_rounding_out

He worked on making mechanical adjustments (in spring training), where hes more spread out in his stance and has a better direction with his swing than he had last year and hes been able to carry that into games pretty consistently, said Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett yesterday. His bat has taken a step forward.

Lots of good stuff on Mookie Betts in the outfield and Trey Ball's recent improved results in that article too.

Also a good article from about a month ago in the Portland Press Herald:

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/05/21/deven_marerro_is_facing_up_to_his_future_/

Deven Marrero has looked spectacular at shortstop if you ask me, Farrell said this past spring training.

And so we did question Farrell, asking him to compare Marrero with Jose Iglesias, the benchmark of young defensive shortstops.

I think theyre very comparable, Farrell said. Iggy had a little bit more flair. They go about it a little bit differently, but no less effective on Devens part.

 

[BosRedSox5]

Hit hot streak continues as he's slashing .292/.372/.421 on the year. Nice to see his bat come around. Makes me wonder if we find a stopgap 3B/SS this offseason and move X to 3B full time when Marrero is ready. 

 

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

I don't see why they can't promote him to AAA and have him fight for the job next year. He'll be 24 in August which is a little old for AA and he's blocked by no one at the moment.

 

[BosRedSox5]

I don't see why they can't promote him to AAA and have him fight for the job next year. He'll be 24 in August which is a little old for AA and he's blocked by no one at the moment.

 
Defensively he's ready, maybe they want to make sure his bat is legit? I dunno, but I think you're right. If Marerro went up, the Sox could re-promote Ryan Dent, or move Gibson there full time. Mike McCoy is the starting SS at Pawtucket and Marerro definitely could supplant him without an issue. 

 

[oumbi]

I believe original projections on Marerro raved about his defense, but had questions about his ability to hit as a pro. Given his performance so far, we can be at least cautiously hopeful that he might be an average hitter for a shortstop in the majors.
 
Taking that as our starting point, I would like to turn to his defense. Aside from the assumptions that he is great (and I am not saying he is not) just how good is his defense? Are we talking Iggy sans the flash? Are we saying he might be considered for a gold glove or three? Or, is he simply a solid/a bit above average shortstop? Just how good a hitter he has to be is tied, in part, to his defense, so I am curious about that part of him.
 
I don't know Marerro well. I haven't seen him in action, and therefore cannot say with any confidence just how good his defense is/will be. Therefore, I turn the experts and sages who populate SOSH to provide some insight. Oh, and if those insights include some videos, so much the better.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[Byrdbrain]

I've never seen him play except for some stuff on NESN in spring training but my understanding from what I have read is not quite as good as Iggy and certainly not as flashy but definitely in the GG conversation type defense.
If his hitting improvement is real and he can be league average offensively(for a SS) that means X stays at 3rd and a couple other of our players either find a new position or a new team.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

I've never seen him play except for some stuff on NESN in spring training but my understanding from what I have read is not quite as good as Iggy and certainly not as flashy but definitely in the GG conversation type defense.
If his hitting improvement is real and he can be league average offensively(for a SS) that means X stays at 3rd and a couple other of our players either find a new position or a new team.

 
Several members of the Red Sox front office seem to think his defense is as good as Iggy's.  Not as flashy does not necessarily mean not as good.
 

“I think they’re very comparable,” Farrell said. “Iggy had a little bit more flair. … They go about it a little bit differently, but no less effective on Deven’s part.”

 
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/05/21/deven_marerro_is_facing_up_to_his_future_/

 

[LondonSox]

I haven't seen anything that didn't have a great review on his defense. I think people have stopped talking about it as much as it seems like a given he's plus defensively.

As mentioned not flashy but so so smooth and solid.

 

[mabrowndog]

PawSox ‏@PawSox   2m
SS Deven Marrero promoted to the PawSox today along with reliever Miguel Celestino from Portland. http://instagram.com/p/p9MIVpydof/ 

 

[BosRedSox5]

It's about damn time. Hope to see him in Boston soon... that is unless the Fox team is right and X cries himself to sleep every night because he's not a shortstop. 

 

[Hank Scorpio]

The promotion to AAA hasn't seemed to slow down Marrero at all. 
 
Small sample size aside, he's slashing .409/.435/.500/.935

 

[LondonSox]

X might want to get used to playing 3rd

 

[mabrowndog]

The promotion to AAA hasn't seemed to slow down Marrero at all. 
 
Small sample size aside, he's slashing .409/.435/.500/.935

 
Since this post, he's hit .184/.242/.255/.497 in 154 PA over 38 G. The 25 K he's racked isn't awful (16.2%), but only 10 BB sure is. Along that stretch he's had 20 oh-fers and just 4 multi-hit games:
 
7/13 @ TOL (4-for-5, 2 dbl, 6 RBI)
7/18 vs BUF (2-for-4)
7/26 @ SWB (4-for-4, dbl, 3 RBI)
8/10 @ CHA (2-for-3, bb, dbl, HR, RBI)
 
FWIW, since that July 26 game, his slump has only deepened:  .125/.188/.193/.381 in 97 PA covering 24 outings.
 
He turned 24 yesterday and got the night off. And it's worth reminding ourselves that still nearly 4 years younger than the average IL position player.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

He turned 24 yesterday and got the night off. And it's worth reminding ourselves that still nearly 4 years younger than the average IL position player.

 
I don't feel like 24 is all that young for AAA and I think the average age across the league is probably skewed by the career minor league guys who have topped out at that level and the amount of major league players who either bounce back and forth all year because they are depth signings who are needed, or on DL trips.
 
Even still, Marrero has time to get himself straightened out, I just think we should stop looking at him as the shortstop of the future. He could still end up holding the position down long term, but it's probably more likely that he ends up a utility infielder.

 

[mabrowndog]

I was just going to say or suggest the same thing. I think relative age is definitely useful at the lower levels, but not so much at AAA, due to the reasons you list.

 
Well, he was also 1.7 years younger than the average AA position player during his 3 months with Portland this year.
 
Just for perspective, here are his season-long age splits for AA & AAA combined (I'm not aware of any readily-available source that separates this data by level):
 
vs younger pitchers: .333/.422/.455/.877 in 116 PA
vs older pitchers:  .241/.305/.355/.661 in 369 PA
 
Clearly the PA disparity suggests that the league-average age isn't skewed by a handful of really old minor leaguers. More than three-quarters of his trips to the plate at both levels have been against older pitchers, and I'd assume in AAA it's been more like 85-90%.

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

decent article on Marrero (and a bit on Bradley) from a Brendan McGair at the PawtucketTimes (full article can be found here - http://www.woonsocketcall.com/node/11886). Snippet:
 

Handling the glove has not been a source of concern for Marrero, a player who has more than lived up to the slick-fielding reputation that accompanied him on his July 2 promotion to Pawtucket. In 44 games, he’s committed six errors in 190 chances and assisted in 28 double plays. Talk to any member of the PawSox’ pitching staff and they won’t hesitate to say that a defender of Marrero’s caliber provides them peace of mind.

“You’re the man at shortstop. The pitchers really rely on you to be ready every single pitch,” said Marrero, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Monday. “If you’re struggling at the plate, you can’t out your frustrations in the field because the pitcher is depending on you. He’s out there throwing every ball as good and as hard as his can. He’s trying to make a living and he needs us to help him.

“That’s how you earn your trust from your teammates by showing them that no matter what you’re going through, you’re going to be there for them no matter what and you’re going to go out there and compete every single pitch,” Marrero said.

There’s another way to measure how Marrero has been a source of defensive reassurance for Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles. Based on data compiled by Baseball Reference, Marrero’s Range Factor per Game, a stat that measures putouts plus assists divided by games played, sits at 4.18. That’s up from the 4.02 figure he compiled in 66 games for Double-A Portland earlier this season.

 

[mabrowndog]

EDIT - Never mind. My approach was flawed.

 

[Plympton91]

24 is basically about the age you'd expect any real prospect to graduate from AAA. Those average age stats are, IMO, really misleading because of the older filler types every organization has. Marerro's failure to sustain the improvement he showed at Portland is really disappointing. He's a "young 24" by prospect aging standards, so he's still got next year to adjust to AAA in my book, but the clock is ticking. I would be surprised if the are aggressive in trying to find a trade partner that overvalues defense this offseason, but sadly, I think the Red Sox may be a team that is on the upper end of the "values defense" spectrum as evidenced by everything from the Crawford and Cameron contracts to the extent of rope Jackie Bradley got this year.