Texas Rangers Minor League Players of the Week

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.

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