Prospect watch

The Washington Nationals’ top two prospects looked around spring training camp in Viera, Fla., earlier this year and they realized the same thing: the major leaguers are normal people, just like them.

“It’s really an eye-opening experience to realize that those are normal people, too and they’re doing the same things we’re doing,” said Ross Detwiler, the organization’s best arm in development.
“The game’s just a little faster up there. You have to minimize your mistakes and that’s why they’re up there, because they can do that on a consistent basis.”

First baseman Chris Marrero, the Nationals’ top prospect overall, has a renewed confidence in himself with that experience, feeling that consistency is the only thing that separates him from the big leaguers.

Detwiler and Marrero are back for second tours with Potomac this year, a rarity in most of professional baseball under normal circumstances. But with added depth at the upper echelons of Washington’s minor league system, there is just no room for these two (or others) to move up.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. This allows the organization’s top two youngsters the chance to work toward achieving the consistency that is part of being a major league player while with the High-A club for at least part of another season.

“Kinston does it, stacking their [Single-A] team before they go to Double-A,” Potomac’s third-year manager Randy Knorr said Thursday, “and it’s going to be good to run this team out there. I don’t think it’s going to last very long. Hopefully we run off with it and have a good time before they leave.”

Detwiler, a left-handed starter drafted sixth overall in 2007, pitched in just five games for Potomac last sea-son before being called-up to the big club in September along with outfielder Justin Maxwell (now at Double-A Harrisburg).

The 6-foot-5 Missouri State product was 2-2 in 21.1 innings for Potomac with 13 strikeouts and a 4.22 ERA. Detwiler boasts a 90-93 miles-per-hour four-seam fastball and a 12-to-6 curveball that is usually around 83 mph to go with a high-70s change according to Baseball America.

“He’s got an awesome fastball,” Marrero said. “He’s definitely got a lot of talent and he’s going to be a good pitcher.”

Randy Tomlin has worked with Detwiler, re-tooling the 22-year-old’s mechanics on the mound this offseason to improve his control.

“We’re trying to get him to set up a little better, just trying to get him a better position to control his body better,” Tomlin said. “It’s minor stuff for him. He’s such a good athlete, he picked it right up.

“I think it’s going to affect his command and probably his stuff is going to get better, if that’s possible. He’s going to be able to consistently repeat his delivery and get through his pitches a lot better,” Tomlin added.

Tomlin, in his second year with Potomac himself, thinks Detwiler’s return to Potomac is a plus because of their positive relationship on the field and in the bullpen.

“We work well together and we’ll see if we can make some adjustments and hopefully it’ll help him,” Tomlin said. “I don’t expect him to be here very long. I expect him to start off hot and then take off.”

“I think he’s getting better and better,” Knorr said. “He’s just trying to get familiar with the professional base-ball thing. There are routines between starts. And now it’s time to pitch. In college he just threw the ball by guys and they’d chase his stuff. They don’t do that here.

“When he gets a better idea of what he wants to do, command his pitches a little better he’ll probably move really fast.”

Marrero, a first rounder from the 2006 draft, is learning a new position after playing mostly left field last season. A third baseman in high school, Marrero was blocked by Ryan Zimmerman at the organization’s top level and the Nationals felt a change to the outfield would aid Marrero’s advancement.

Though Knorr felt Marrero, 19, hit well enough to earn a promotion, the Miami native struggled defensively and was moved to first base in the offseason, a position he has already taken a liking to.

“I feel more comfortable at first base than I’ve felt at any other position they’ve put me at,” Marrero said. “I played infield when I was in high school and I really feel like I’ve really progressed [at first] since instruc-tional camp in October, getting better everyday.”

He has been taking groundballs everyday and working on positioning for cutoffs and various game situa-tions during the offseason.

“I think hitting-wise he’s probably ready to move up,” Knorr said, “but learning a new position, we’d rather he learn it down here in A-ball. He’s picking it up pretty quick. Being a third baseman in high school I think he’s going to be fine at first.”

Marrero hit .259 with nine home runs for Potomac, a dip from his numbers of .293 and 14 at Low-A Hagers-town in 57 games. But Baseball America calls his ability to hit for power to any field his best strength, a skill sure to make the 6-3 right-handed hitter valuable to Washington.

“I work on my hitting everyday,” Marrero said. “It’s just a matter of getting at-bats, seeing a lot of pitching and maturing as a hitter to get to the next step. Up there a lot of guys are smarter than you and that’s when the mental side of the game comes into play.

“Now my expectations are just to have a great season and have fun and just play baseball.”