Following an early exit from last night’s game, Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara will head to the injured list with a strained left oblique muscle, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning-News (link). The team has purchased the contract of infielder Nick Solak in a corresponding move.
This sequence of moves has been suspected since last night when Mazara went down. It’s been a difficult season for Mazara, with these last few weeks particularly trying as the Rangers have cut into his playing time in an open audition to get more production from his spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old outfielder was a star-in-the-making not all that long ago, but he has yet to improve much in any aspect of his game since his rookie season in 2016.
Still, it’s not all doom-and-gloom for Mazara, who was headed for a fourth-straight 20-homer campaign had he stated healthy. Depending on the length of his layoff, he’ll still have a decent shot at notching the three home runs needed to hit the mark in 2019. On the whole, the power has been there for Mazara this season, with .467 slugging and .197 ISO both career-high marks. The rest of his game has maintained an almost bizarre consistency for a player so young. He’s sitting right now at a 95 wRC+ mark–right in line with his previous three marks of 96, 89, and 91 in seasons dating back to 2016. Unfortunately, that’s not quite enough pop from a corner outfielder who doesn’t rate well on defense or on the basepaths.
Solak is penciled into the 6th spot in the batting order to make his major league debut today. He is listed right now as the designated hitter, though much of his perceived long-term value stems from his defensive versatility. Throughout his minor league career, he has shuttled between second base, left field, and centerfield, while seeing an occasional inning at third or in right. It’s a good time to be debuting in Texas: yesterday alone, Jose Trevino, 26, smashed his first career home run, Scott Heineman, 26, registered his first career RBI, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 24, ended the night with his first career walkoff knock.
Joe Palumbo has also been added to the roster today to serve as the 26th man for the twin bill against the Angels – one of two rookie starters taking the hill in today’s doubleheader. Palumbo lines up against Andrew Heaney in the afternoon tilt. It will be Palumbo’s 4th appearance of the year for the Rangers, having been hit hard for 11 earned runs across 9 innings of work. Despite the slow start at the ML level, the 24-year-old native of New York state is highly-regarded. MLB.com lists Palumbo as the 6th-best prospect in the Texas system, while Baseball America ranks him 4th.
Another elite player going down
Elite?? By what standards??
By joking standards.
Sarcasm alert!
good for Solak, he’s been killing it. that trade was an absolute steal for Texas.
Great college player here at Louisville.
I’m interested to see where they play Solak.
I’d like to see him try out third on a regular basis.
If we’re going to keep Mazara I would think they’d have him trying out 1B at some point. Maz is a very average player at best, average guys are needed, but his defense and speed are atrocious.
If Solak gets time in RF it’d be cool to see Calhoun get time in the infield again. Maybe a healthier more agile Calhoun could cut it at 3B or 2B.
The Rangers may have an interesting off-season with position changes or roster moves. Too many corner outfield, bad defense, types.
Solak shows a lot of promise in his first bats as a big leaguer. I think Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the future 3rd baseman for the team, great hands, and a pure contact hitter. I like Solak at 2nd, showed good glove and arm there. We’ll see how he holds up when big-league pitchers find his swings weak points..
Solak will likely be our 2B. Can’t see JD justifying Odor there anymore now that they have a legit prospect ready to take over. Calhoun in LF and Gallo in RF is how the OF will likely set up. Heineman will compete with DeShields for CF, Guzman will be back at 1B soon with him crushing AAA and Andy Ibanez will need a look soon. He can play 3B/2B with possibly a little SS. So no reason to force Solak into a new spot. Slot him in at 2B and see if he wants to claim that spot for the next few years.
With Solak’s successful debut, this will get the wheels moving for possible trades of Mazara or Odor in the off season. Odor’s situation will present a sticky problem though with that bad contract the front office made a year ago. Mazara and Odor both seem to be on the same trajectory of mediocrity after 4 years on the ball club.
I always liked Solak when he was a Yankee prospect. That trade we made for Drury is one that felt bad the moment it happened. We had Andujar and Torres on the cusp of being ready and I didn’t think the trade for Drury was needed. Solak reminded me a lot of Dustin Pedroia. The other guy we traded was Taylor Widener. He won 17 games in 2018 with a 2.75 ERA and 175 ks. He ended up falling flat on his face this year (8.00 ERA) but Solak has been consistently good. I hope he has a bright future and gets a shot with the Rangers.