Lowell Spinners Update: Deven Marrero, Kendrick Perkins, Matthew Marquis

Deven Marrero, SS

Marrerro hasn't wowed with power since starting up his professional career all of 27 games ago, but he hasn't shown a complete lack of it either. On Sunday, he whacked his first triple, popping his Isolated Power over .100 to .110, a number far more impressive in the New York-Penn League than elsewhere, given that particular short-season league is hitting a combined .245/.321/.346 (.101 ISO) at present. Marrero is the average age for the level, and hitting above the average at present, despite just getting here.

It gets better, too, when you see how Marrero is succeeding. He's drawn walks as often as he's struck out (13 percent of plate appearances), and has shown an approach that, even if it isn't generating massive pop, is definitely capable at this level. Not that we shouldn't expect this -- he's 21 and coming off of three years of college, after all -- but considering all the questions surrounding him involve his bat, this is a positive thing we're witnessing. A strong showing at Lowell means Greenville would be in his 2013 plans, and that's when we can start to see a little more of what Marrero has to offer.

Kendrick Perkins, RF

Like Marrero, it might be tough to see just what Perkins is offering offensively here, but he has a .151 Isolated Power in a league bereft of that very thing. It's not domination, but it's much better than what you would normally consider a .396 slugging to be, especially since he's drawing some walks, and has had moderate success on the bases early.

That being said, Perkins is hitting all of .245 thanks to striking out over 35 percent of the time, and while he's raw, so are the pitchers he's facing. In his last 10 games, Perkins has just seven hits -- just one of them, a double, for extra bases -- and has whiffed 17 times against just a pair of walks. That's a 472 OPS over 41 plate appearances, the kind of thing you're going to see from someone with his strikeout rates in the stretches where the contact he does make isn't landing in the gaps.

He's even younger than Marrero, of course, and there's a lot to like here all told. Perkins absolutely needs to cut into his punch out rate, though, if he wants to start to put up the numbers consistently in Lowell.

*****

Matthew Marquis, OF

Matthew Marquis looks like he's been having a good time in short-season Lowell as a 22-year-old, but as you can see, part of the reason he's even here is due to problems at higher levels. Marquis was selected in the 41st round of the 2011 draft, out of the University of Maryland. He hit .337/.429/.494 with Lowell in 25 games and 98 plate appearances after he signed, but didn't find the same success in his extended stint with Low-A Greenville.

He struck out 30 percent of the time in the Sally, after 21 percent with Lowell in 2011. The walks were still there, with Marquis drawing them nine percent of the time, but the strikeouts were an impediment.

From the scouting side of things, Sox Prospects seems mixed on him. Marquis has a swing that needs some work, as when it's on, it's fluid, but it can occasionally get a little long -- hence all the swing-and-miss in his game. He's already displaying some patience, but as with any young hitter with discipline, the higher levels will give you a sense of whether he's patient with a plan, or just waiting around. His first taste of ball above Lowell makes you wonder if it's the latter, but he hasn't played enough for us to say he's stuck in that corner forever, either.