1. Nomar Mazara – TEX
.324/.380/.441, 10 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 0 SB, 0.5 WAR
Injuries to outfielder’s Josh Hamilton and Shin-Soo Choo have opened the door of opportunity to a player like Nomar Mazara in the Texas Rangers’ lineup. With Ian Desmond in left field, Mazara is the everyday right fielder for the time being.
The 21-year-old Dominican has the nickname the “Big Chill” because of his calm and collected demeanor during ball games. But it could be a double entendre as well for his ability to cool opposing pitchers down when he steps into the batter’s box. So far in 2016, the opposition has had issues getting Mazara out. In 68 at-bats he’s struck out only 14 times and garnered seven walks.
Next: Top 5 NL ROY candidates thru April
A career .270 hitter in the minors who racked up 263 RBI, Mazara isn’t far behind Snell on MLB.com’s prospect rankings, coming in at No. 15 overall on the list. He is one of three outfield prospects Texas has in the top 15 of baseball, so for him to be seeing significant time right now over fellow top prospects Joey Gallo (7th) and Lewis Brinson (13th), that’s saying something about how high this kid’s ceiling is.