Nomar Mazara, Aledmys Diaz among rookies taking advantage of golden opportunity

Wendy Thurm

Nomar Mazara, Aledmys Diaz among rookies taking advantage of golden opportunity image

We’re in a golden era for young baseball talent. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are the best players in the game. Manny Machado is making a play to add his name to that list. Same for Carlos Correa. Gregory Polanco and Michael Conforto are knocking the stitches off the ball. Kris Bryant and Francisco Lindor are flashing incredible glove work. All are under 25.

We expected to see new names added to that list this year. Season previews were dotted with glowing expectations and predicted Rookie of the Year awards for Byron Buxton, Corey Seager, Joey Gallo, and Trea Turner. But so far, thanks to injuries to more established players, other less heralded rookies have grabbed the spotlight.

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Nomar Mazara was a prospect that had a lot of folks excited, but he was thought to be behind Gallo in the Rangers pecking order. But a calf injury to outfielder Shin-Soo Choo early on led to a call-up for Mazara. He has not disappointed. In 88 plate appearances, Mazara is hitting .325/.375/.468 with two doubles and three home runs. Add in his highlight-reel defense in right field and Mazara has a shiny 1.0 WAR (Fangraphs) in his first month in the majors. Mazara may switch to left field when Choo returns, which would send Ian Desmond and his 90 wRC+ to the bench. That’s a nice problem to have for the first-place Rangers.

Last season, St. Louis removed minor-league shortstop Aledmys Diaz from its 40-man roster, which made him available to the other 29 teams. The rest of the league may be regretting their inaction. Diaz worked his way back to the 40-man and with injuries to Jhonny Peralta and Ruben Tejada, Diaz has been the Cardinals starting shortstop for more than half the games this season.

And while his defense needs work, Diaz’s hitting has been spectacular. The 25-year-old had fewer than 60 plate appearances above Double-A before his major league debut for the Cardinals on April 5. Since then, he’s posted a .388/.424/.700 slash. That’s translated to a 196 wRC+, the highest in the National League. He’s cooled off of late, which is remarkable when you look at his numbers. But unless he loses his swing entirely, the Cardinals will have some difficult decisions to make when Peralta returns from injury, most likely in June.

Diaz isn’t the only surprising contributor for the Cardinals. (It seems we can write a similar sentence about the Cardinals every year.) Outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker will turn 29 in August. After bouncing around the minor leagues for six years with the Red Sox and Dodgers, Hazelbaker made his first major league roster with St. Louis this season. Since his major league debut on April 3, Hazelbaker’s hit .313/.352/.672 with five home runs in 72 plate appearances. Like Diaz, his defense is a bit wanting, but with slow starts for Matt Holliday and Randal Grichuk, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has used Hazelbaker in all three outfield positions. After so many years trying to make it to the Show, Hazelbaker will take all the playing time he can get.

FAGAN: Feast or famine for Cardinals

A.J. Pollock was a revelation for the Diamondbacks last season. Then Pollock fractured his right elbow sliding into home in spring training. That shifted Chris Owings to center field and opened a spot around the diamond for Brandon Drury. The 23-year-old has played left field, right field, third base and second base this season. That kind of defensive flexibility can mess with a player’s bat, but it hasn’t bothered Drury one bit. In 81 plate appearances, Drury has six doubles, one triple and five home runs. His 19.8% strikeout rate is a concern, but the Diamondbacks will gladly take his .321/.333/.615 slash. Indeed, his 143 wRC+ is tied for the team lead with Paul Goldschmidt. Not a bad start for a guy who was nowhere to be found on Baseball America’s or MLB.com’s Top 100 prospect lists.




 

Wendy Thurm