Lowell Spinners Update: Deven Marrero, Pat Light, Mike Augliera

Deven Marrero, SS

Marrero has hit well as of late, putting up a .314/.400/.457 showing in his last 10 games that's helped to bump his batting average up 25 points since the last time we checked in on him. Marrero has struck out more in this stretch, as he also had a 31/28 K/BB two weeks ago, but this recent stretch hasn't hurt him -- being a bit more aggressive in going after the pitch has been good for his pop.

Marrero continues to impress on the basepaths, where he has succeeded in stealing 80 percent of the time in his 30 chances in 59 games. A basic OPS+ calculation puts his OPS+ in the New York-Penn League at 111 -- that's some fine work for a shortstop, but the 21-year-old will have to continue this at the more age-appropriate Low-A Greenville in 2013 before you can get too excited. Still, this is a solid start to his pro career, and we haven't even talked about his most appealing attribute: the glove.

Pat Light, P

Pat Light had his first rough outing in over a month on August 21, when he gave up three runs in 2-1/3 innings. It's hard to complain about the overall results from his first taste of professional baseball, though, as Light is striking out over a batter per inning, limiting walks and homers, and shown little in the way of platoon splits despite his far-from-finished repertoire.

Light has given up just the one homer, and has leaned more ground out than air out to start his pro career. The 21-year-old draft pick from this summer's first-round sandwich selections seems a good bet to start his first full year in the minors in 2013 with Low-A Greenville, though, at this stage, it's unknown if he'll remain on in shorter, relief-esque appearances, or move into the rotation while Boston figures out if that's where his arm fits best.

*****

Mike Augliera, P

Mike Augliera's numbers still look ugly, at least in the ERA and hits departments, but things have improved considerably for him. Since giving up 13 runs in two appearances spanning 3-1/3 innings in mid-July, Augliera has almost completely shut down the opposition. He's allowed just three runs to score in his last seven appearances and 21 innings, striking out 24 against just two walks and a homer. All it took was a severe beating at the hands of the Tri-City ValleyCats to get Augliera to learn there was a difference between strikes and quality strikes.

Whether that lesson holds in the long-term remains to be seen, but Augliera almost immediately made adjustments, and without compromising his low walk rate, either. Augliera might have been a college senior, and his ERA isn't exactly pretty to start his pro career, but there's a potentially intriguing arm here, even if it's one that will lean heavily on command to get by.