Advertisement

sportsRangers

Grant: Worried you'll see no more Nomar soon? Don't ... why Mazara will stay with Rangers when Choo returns

TORONTO -- About Nomar Mazara: He stays.

It's that simple. Unless something changes.

Advertisement

From the moment he stroked a two-strike single in his first at-bat as a big leaguer just over three weeks ago, the question of what the Rangers would do with Mazara whenever Shin-Soo Choo returns from the disabled list has stoked social media. My timeline has only grown more clogged as he chugged to the best April ever by a Rangers rookie and the AL Rookie of the Month award.

Rangers

Be the smartest Rangers fan. Get the latest news.

Or with:

Choo is starting to ramp up baseball activities in Toronto, could get a clean bill of health early next week and could be on a rehab assignment the following week. Time is getting closer for a decision.

Jon Daniels has one.

Advertisement

"If things continue the way they are, the answer will be: Play him," Daniels said before the Rangers blew a ninth-inning lead and suffered their fourth walkoff loss in four road series, 3-1 on a pair of Justin Smoak homers.

So there, that's done.

Advertisement

Except that before even drawing in another breath, the GM put the expected disclaimer on the kinda, sorta guarantee: Two weeks is an eternity in baseball. A lot can happen. A lot could change.

Choo could suffer a setback. As he starts to face pitchers a second time, Mazara could get flummoxed. Hey, for that matter, Ian Desmond could end up being the next character killed off on Game of Thrones, too.

But that's not going to happen. And the likelihood of Mazara going back to the minor leagues fades every day, too. And here's why: Quite simply, he is one of the nine players who give the Rangers the best chance to win on a nightly basis.

According to baseball-reference.com, he began Tuesday with a wins above replacement of 0.9, second on the team to Adrian Beltre. He isn't just making a contribution.

"We are seeing a consistency that we saw at the minor league level," Daniels said. "We're seeing that continue up here. He doesn't seem to get fazed. You just get a similar look to what we saw in the minor leagues."

Daniels has sent young players back to the minors before despite nice performances. And he will do so again. That's not any more difficult than releasing a veteran or trading a player. They are all tough.

More difficult: determining what is the best lineup and roster.

Advertisement

At this point, Mazara is a better fit for the Rangers' lineup than Delino DeShields. The roster was designed to have a plug-and-play versatility. Need a boost? Just plug the right prospect into the lineup and move the pieces around defensively. Depending on the situation, it could have been Joey Gallo, Lewis Brinson or Jurickson Profar. It ended up being Mazara.

The Rangers have the ability to move Ian Desmond to center and flank him with Choo and Mazara. Because of poor jumps in the outfield and a subpar arm from DeShields, you could make the argument that Desmond is already his equal, if not his superior.

DeShields could end up as a fourth outfielder because he has the ability to play center field. If not for that -- perhaps even in spite of that -- he might end up in the minors getting the Triple-A year he missed last season after jumping from Double-A to the majors.

Mazara went 3 for 4 with a homer in his first major league game. Three weeks later he went 2 for 4 with a go-ahead homer and a game-saving, on-the-fly throw to home plate. He has shown an ability to control his bat and the strike zone. He began Tuesday averaging 4.08 pitches per plate appearance with an .872 OPS. He wasn't just seeing a lot of pitches. He was also seeking out -- and finding -- the good ones to hit.

Advertisement

"It's early," Daniels cautioned again. "I don't want to oversell it. But I don't want to undersell it. He's done his job."

He's not going back.

But check that Twitter timeline anyway. Because something could change. Two weeks is a baseball eternity.

Twitter: @EvanPGrant