Lowell Spinners update: Corey Littrell, Daniel McGrath, Carlos Asuaje

Corey Littrell, LHP

Littrell is handing out a few too many walks in his first professional stint, but it's hard to complain about the results to this point. Granted, it's under 16 innings of work, as Littrell has only been a starter by the strictest definition of the word in his seven appearances with the Spinners, but still: he's done pretty okay for himself for a fifth-round pick just getting going in his career.

He'll need to shave some of those free passes off, as the strikeouts won't stay up like this forever, and he hasn't been inducing an inordinate number of grounders to compensate, either. Young lefties can be forgiven for a lot, however, so expecting the southpaw Littrell to be perfect out of the gate is asking a lot.

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Daniel McGrath, RHP

That doesn't mean perfection for young lefties is impossible, though, as Daniel McGrath interjects on the above. McGrath tossed five perfect innings in his last outing -- no walks, no hits, and six strikeouts -- and now has struck out 19 batters against a single walk in 17 innings with Lowell following a promotion from the GCL in July.

McGrath pitched for Melbourne as a 15- and 16-year-old, and even took part in spring training with the Red Sox last year, but had to finish high school in his native Australia before coming over to pitch in a stateside pro league. He certainly seems ready despite his youth, and if he keeps it up over the next few weeks, it wouldn't be a shock to see him joining some of the 2012 and 2013 draftees in Low-A Greenville next year.

There's a very good chance that Low-A's rotation will have Trey Ball, Ty Buttrey, Jamie Callahan, Teddy Stankiewicz, and McGrath in it, which, while admittedly highly volatile due to youth and distance from the majors, is also flat-out ridiculous.

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Carlos Asuaje, 2B

In non-pitcher Spinners news, we've got Carlos Asuaje, who hasn't hit very well in his debut season, but not to the point of serious concern. His July was fine enough, but he's slowed back down in August. Remember, though, that a 678 OPS in short-season ball isn't what it looks like: Asuaje is actually ahead of the league-average pace for the New York-Penn League, as your average player (and, conveniently enough, 21-year-old) is hitting .244/.314/.342 this year.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't hope or expect for more, but he's not nearly as sunk as initial appearances suggest. Plus, he became a pro roughly two months ago when he was drafted in the 11th round by the Red Sox -- he merits a little bit of slack in his debut stint.

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