Texas Rangers Minor League Players of the Week

Mar 8, 2015; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Michael  Choice (15) swings the bat against the Cleveland Indians during to a spring training baseball game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

After spending 86 games in the majors with the Rangers in 2014, Michael Choice has spent the first few months of 2015 with the Express. In 2014, Choice hit .182/.250/.320 and showed some power with 9 home runs and 16 extra-base hits overall. In his 57 games with the Express, Choice has continued to struggle at the plate and has hit .225/.277/.373 with six home runs.

He has struggled with strikeouts throughout his career, with a 25.1% strikeout percentage in his 95 major league games. This year, he has struck out in 30.4% of his at-bats while drawing a walk just 5.4% of the time.

This week, Choice seems as if he has started to turn things around, having hit .346/.370/.538 in 26 ABs. He has three extra-base hits and has driven in four runs while scoring four of his own. Choice has continued his struggle with strikeouts, having struck out in seven of his 26 ABs without drawing a walk.

Mar 2, 2015; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher

Alec Asher

(73) poses for a portrait during Photo Day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pitcher

The great week by the Express was fueled by some great pitching performances. Two of these came from 2012 fourth round pick Alec Asher. Asher has struggled throughout 2015, who had a 1-4 record with a 3.98 ERA with Frisco and gave up 11 runs in his first two starts with the Express.

This past week, Asher finally turned it on, picking up two wins and giving up just two earned runs in 12 innings. Asher struck out six and walked four, increasing his season ratio to 62 K:29 BB and has held batters to a .255 batting average.

Some other major performances from the Express staff came from a six inning, shutout performance from Jerad Eickhoff and Matt Harrison’s best rehab start with the team. Harrison gave up just two runs across 6.2 innings.

Next: Frisco Roughriders

Aug 7, 2014; Frisco, TX, USA; Frisco Rough Riders right fielder Nomar  Mazara (9) bats during the game against the Springfield Cardinals at Dr Pepper Ballpark. Springfield beat Frisco 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

A top-5 prospect in the Texas Rangers, Nomar Mazara is making his second appearance with the RoughRiders. After being promoted for the last 24 games of 2014, Mazara was great in a small sample size, having hit .306/.381/.518 with 3 home runs in 85 at-bats. Mazara hovers around the 20% strikeout percentage, a roughly average percentage, but is better at drawing walks at a rate of over 10%.

Mazara has played all of his 61 games for the RoughRiders this season and has hit .296/.379/.457 with 7 home runs in 223 ABs. While the average has dipped a little from 2014, this is in a much larger sample size and has suffered from a .017 drop in his BABIP. He has managed to keep his On-Base Percentage about the same by increasing his BB% from 9.3% to 10.9%.

This past week, Mazara has caught fire and has hit .400/.480/.800 in his 20 ABs with 2 home runs and nine runs batted in. After spending over a third of the season with Frisco, the 20-year old will not last much longer before he forces his way to Round Rock.

He was one of three players on the team with two home runs this week, joining Jake Skole and Drew Robinson, while the hits lead belonged to another top prospect Nick Williams who had 11 hits in 27 ABs. Williams also led the team with 5 runs scored.

Pitcher

Drafted in the 14th round of the 2009 MLB Draft, Chad Bell missed a lot of time after getting Tommy John surgery but is starting to string together some solid performances for the RoughRiders. Across three levels in 2014, Bell had a 4.19 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) across 88 innings after not pitching in 2013. To start 2015, Bell has a 2-7 record with a 4.48 ERA in 66.1 innings.

While his overall stats for 2015 are less than impressive, Bell has given up just four earned runs in his past 20 innings over three starts although he has a 1-2 record in that span. This past week he had just one start and picked up the win against the Midland RockHounds. Bell gave up just two hits and no runs over 7 innings, striking out eight while issuing just two walks.

The RoughRiders had great work from some members of the bullpen with relievers Cody Ege, Jesus Pirela, and Lendy Castillo combining to throw 9.2 shutout innings in the week.

Top prospect Jake Thompson picked up a win in his only start, giving up three runs and seven hits across 6.1 innings.

Next: High Desert Mavericks

Mar 3, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Lewis  Brinson against the Cleveland Indians in a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

Picked in the supplemental first-round by the Rangers in 2011, the 25-year old Zach Cone has struggled to reach the majors, having missed most of 2013 with a torn left Achilles. Cone split his 2014 season between three levels and hit .207/.313/.356 in 382 at-bats. He started 2015 back in High-A and has started to show the promise that the team had hoped for him, having hit .301/.353/.530 with 13 home runs in 249 ABs.

This past week, Cone has been even more impressive, turning in a .444/.500/1.185 performance with six home runs and 12 runs batted in. His week was highlighted by a 3-for-5, two home run performance last Thursday. He even managed to hit a home run in four straight games. Even more impressive is the fact that he only struck out five times in his 30 ABs, less than the number of home runs he hit. Cone is two years older than the average player in the California League and will need to duplicate this success at a higher level before he starts to get more recognition.

Top-10 prospect Lewis Brinson had a solid week, hitting .286/.382/.357 with just one of his eight hits going for extra bases. Brinson managed to draw five walks which is why he was able to have such a high On-Base Percentage. Brinson is just 21 so the team will have more patience with the promotion of Brinson than they will with Cone.

Mar 18, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Ryne  Slack pitches in the tenth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Surprise Stadium. The Rangers won 7-6 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pitcher

One of the best weeks across the entire farm system belongs to Richelson Pena. Pena turned in two straight solid performances to give himself three solid starts in a row. Pena had a good 2014 in his first season outside of rookie-ball, going 5-5 with a 3.36 ERA in 72.1 innings.

This week, Pena threw 13 innings over two starts and picked up the win in each. Pena gave up two earned runs over 7 innings and followed that up with a six inning, shutout performance against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. These two starts bring Pena to a 5-4 record for the season, with a 3.82 ERA in 61.1 innings. He has struck out 45 batters to just 10 walks, giving him an impressive 1.47 BB/9.

Looking at the rest of the team, the Mavericks received scoreless weeks from Ryne Slack who threw 4 innings of relief and gave up just two hits and Cole Wiper who pitched 3 innings in his start on Saturday.

Next: What Beating Kershaw Means for the Rangers