When Nomar Mazara burst out of the gate with three hits, including a home run, in his big-league debut on Sunday, it immediately brought back memories of last June and slugging prospect Joey Gallo.
I had the pleasure of being in attendance at Globe Life Park that day when Gallo made his anticipated MLB debut after Adrian Beltre hit the disabled list, and he drove in four runs with a homer and a two other hits, including a double that missed clearing the wall by inches.
After that, Gallo regressed pretty quickly. He still got a hold of a few and sent them into orbit, but the strikeouts were plentiful and made it hard to keep him in the lineup.
So far, Mazara has shown he's a much different, more refined, hitter. In his second game on Monday night, he got two more hits and another RBI.
The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant spoke to some anonymous scouts, and the consensus opinion was not to worry if you're thinking we might have another Gallo regression on our hands.
"Mazara's approach and instincts are so advanced for his age [20]. He uses the field and is a threat in any count. Basically, he owns the plate."
That's what one AL scout had to say. Encouraging, right?
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OK, how about this from an NL scout: "He doesn't have the same swing. Gallo had a lot of big holes, and everybody saw them. This kid's swing is much better."
Will Mazara come down to Earth before Shin-Soo Choo returns from the disabled list in the next month or so? Most likely. But don't expect him to be a liability in the lineup like Gallo became last season.
