The Texas Rangers are getting closer to bringing another top prospect to the major league level, as top prospect Nomar Mazara is getting brought up to the Round Rock Express. With former Rangers center fielder, and current Round Rock outfielder, Leonys Martin dealing with a sore hand, Mazara will be taking his place.
While the promotion may be due, in part, to Martin’s injury, Mazara is certainly deserving of this step up the minor league ladder. In his 567 career AA plate appearances, Mazara has produced a .287/.362/.455 batting line with 16 home runs and 29 doubles. Only twenty years old, Mazara has also displayed a solid batting eye, drawing 56 walks while striking out 114 times.
As strong as his overall numbers with the Frisco RoughRiders would seem to be, the timing of the promotion may be a bit curious if we only look at his August production. As Evan Grant pointed out in his article, Mazara has not hit a home run in his 47 August at bats, and his .234/.362/.362 batting line is not that great compared to his career marks at AA. However, Mazara’s excellent batting eye has remained intact, as he has drawn nine walks against six strikeouts.
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It will be interesting to see if the Texas Rangers look to bring Nomar Mazara to the majors if his next couple of weeks at Round Rock go well. Even though he is not currently on the 40 man roster, one would imagine that the Rangers could make a move, even if it involves transferring someone to the 60 day disabled list, to make room for Mazara. Considering that the Rangers center fielders have produced a combined .241/.312/.331 batting line, and are ranked 27th with a .643 OPS, there would seem to be an opening.
Of course, this opening in dependant upon how Mazara performs at the AAA level. With the Rangers only three games out in the American League West and one game out in the chase for the Wild Card, having someone that could come up this season and provide a bit of offense at the center field position could well make a major difference in regards to their postseason hopes.
Nomar Mazara is now only one step away from the major leagues. If he preforms well over the next couple of weeks, the Texas Rangers could have an interesting decision to make.