Chicago White Sox: Nomar Mazara starting off strong

The Chicago White Sox have seen one of their newest additions really take off in spring training so far.

Nomar Mazara has been having a phenomenal start to his first spring training with the Chicago White Sox.

In 20 plate appearances so far, the left-handed hitter is 6-for-17 (.353) with a double, home run, and four RBI.

Spring training statistics mean nothing for many players, but it certainly is nice to see a new face getting adjusted to his new ballclub.

This definitely is a pivotal point in not just his career, but his life as a whole after being acquired from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Steele Walker in December.

The 24-year-old was once a top prospect in the game, ranking 14th in all of baseball in 2015 according to MLB Pipeline.

It certainly is fair to wonder whether or not he could just have needed a change of scenery to tap into that potential.

His early career has not lived up to the hype he once had as he hit .268/.318/.469 with 19 homers, 66 RBI, and a 94 wRC+ in 2019 to give himself a 0.5 fWAR (FanGraphs).

In fact, he doesn’t have a single season to date with an fWAR of 1.0 or higher and has a total fWAR of 1.7 in his career so far.

Mazara’s right field defense hasn’t been too great either as he had -4 DRS and a -2.7 UZR in 2019.

That isn’t too bad, though, and wouldn’t even be that noteworthy if his offensive output was league-average or better.

However, there is one thing about Mazara that should be taken into consideration in order to make him successful in 2020. The left-handed hitter could really use a platoon partner.

The decision to acquire Mazara in a trade was probably very disappointing for some after seeing the team involved in the Nicholas Castellanos market.

Nonetheless, Nomar Mazara could provide the production the Chicago White Sox need in right field and the decision to acquire him could reap major benefits in the South Side if he can become anything close to the player he was once heralded as.