Baseball Prospectus: 28. Chris Marrero; 35. Ross Detwiler; 81. Michael Burgess
Keith Law: 51. Detwiler; 64. Marrero; 83. Jordan Zimmermann; 90. Josh Smoker; Burgess is his #5 Nationals prospect but not in the top 100
{ 2008 01 31 }
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future - FDR
{ 2008 01 31 }
Baseball Prospectus: 28. Chris Marrero; 35. Ross Detwiler; 81. Michael Burgess
Keith Law: 51. Detwiler; 64. Marrero; 83. Jordan Zimmermann; 90. Josh Smoker; Burgess is his #5 Nationals prospect but not in the top 100
15 more days | 31-Jan-08 at 1:55 pm | Permalink
Yup. Keith Law just does not like the Nats.
e | 31-Jan-08 at 2:24 pm | Permalink
well, what do you expect? He couldn’t even spell Jordan Zimmermann’s name correctly. Hey Keith — there are two (2) N’s in Zimmermann! What an idiot he is.
Mark | 31-Jan-08 at 5:13 pm | Permalink
Like him or not of where he rated the Nats prospects his assessment of each was pretty decent
Ryan Sullivan | 31-Jan-08 at 6:34 pm | Permalink
Keith Law has had an obvious grudge against Jim Bowden, if not the entire organization ever since ESPN hired him. For him to rank Snider from Toronto in the top 10 and to rank Marrero in the 60s is just preposterous(they are awfully similar)- also, Carlos Gomez 30 spots over Marrero, another joke-
I agree that Marrero will have to hit his way to the majors and to success, but he has big time power, and the agility and skills to be above average at 1B…. I will look forward to reminding Keith of this in a chat in 5 years.
Also Keith, the fact that you can’t get a job in baseball should be somewhat telling, especially after all the fine work you did with the Blue Jays. Take him with a grain of salt.
Dick | 31-Jan-08 at 7:00 pm | Permalink
And the beauty of it all is that in baseball, it doesn’t matter what they think or say about you, it is what you do on the field that counts. That’s why it is more fun to go see Marrero with the P-Nats, or Suns before that (as I did a number of times) than to read poppycock like Keith Law writes. Time will tell how good all of them are!
Cole | 31-Jan-08 at 7:46 pm | Permalink
Is Law’s “his ceiling is limited to mid-rotation duty” a decent assessment of Detwiler’s ability? “Ceiling” means to me the best that could be hoped for.
Brian Oliver | 31-Jan-08 at 8:41 pm | Permalink
Detwiler’s development seems predicated on adding some weight. He’s really slight right now and endurance is going to be his biggest challenge. I think it’s still too early to say middle of the rotation but whether or not he’s a #1 or 2 or 3 or 4 is still TBD
Andrew S | 31-Jan-08 at 11:00 pm | Permalink
I like Detwiler at his current size. Obviously he will add some maturity muscle, but because of his size he is like a rubber band. He will NEVER have any serious injuries. Bank on that. He is better than Andrew Miller.
Hendo | 01-Feb-08 at 9:50 am | Permalink
I’m fairly confident I’ve never seen a player slimmer than Detwiler. Guys tend to drop 10-20 pounds over the course of a summer, and I’m just not sure where he could afford to lose it.
He needn’t bulk up immensely, but by all means pass him an extra helping any time.
Andrew S | 01-Feb-08 at 12:33 pm | Permalink
Suprisingly, he loves to cook.
Nats fan in NJ | 02-Feb-08 at 7:22 pm | Permalink
The thing that always amazes me is how different top 100 rankings are. The “experts” vary so much, that I go back to what Dick said: The only thing that matters is what you end up doing on the diamond.
hartmanbirge | 03-Feb-08 at 12:51 am | Permalink
Keith Law is what he is…. so any time I see him say something about the NATS I put an asterisk beside it as biased. He does like Lastings Milledge though I’m sure that is due to Mets affiliation. Dismissing Law for a second, I’d go to more competent and unbiased sources for a true gauge - like Baseball America.
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 03-Feb-08 at 4:04 pm | Permalink
“I’m fairly confident I’ve never seen a player slimmer than Detwiler.”
Apparently, too young to remember Oil Can Boyd…
Pilchard | 04-Feb-08 at 11:22 am | Permalink
Randy Johnson was always very thin (granted he is 6-10), but he is rail-like. Pedro Martinez is also very scrawny as was Greg Madux for most of his career until he recently developed a middle age man gut. Many experts claim that the Rays Scott Kazmir has the stuff to be an ace. He is list at 6-0 170; At age 22, Oliver Perez had the 19th best strikeout to innings pitch season as a starter in MLB history. He was and still is listed at 6-3 and 160.
I am not buying the too skinny dig at Detwiler. To pitch you need a lithe loose body which requires flexibility. Thickness and size is not a requirement to be a top of the rotation pitcher.
Jeff | 05-Feb-08 at 12:38 pm | Permalink
Chris Marrero in the 60’s is a joke…
Eliot | 06-Feb-08 at 10:11 am | Permalink
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/does-size-matter-part-5/
Here is a link to a study at Hardball Times of what body type makes a more durable pitcher. (Hint: Not Detwiler’s) I must say I think it is virtually impossible to look at a particular 19 year old and discern whether he will have a major arm injury by 22-24. Certainly flexibility and how violent their delivery, particularly the follow through, is would be more important to me than body type. Then I would baby them on innings and keep my fingers crossed.
I love this site, keep up the good work Brian and everyone who comments.