Rangers Minor League Insider: Top prospects get taste in Futures Game

Nomar Mazara and Nick Williams will arrive and depart Cincinnati as teammates, but for one game they’ll be on opposite sides.

Both Double A Frisco outfielders will be playing in the 17th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on July 12, two days before the Major League All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Mazara will play for the World team while Williams will play for the U.S. team.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to go there,” Mazara said. “It will be a great experience, especially playing in Cincinnati, on a big league field. It’s an opportunity to meet a lot of friends, great players from the U.S. team and the World team, people I’d never get to meet. And you never know, we’ll probably play each other some day in the future.”

That’s the point of the Futures Game, to showcase some of the best young talent in the minor league system; future stars, if you will.

Mazara and Williams are two of the top prospects in the Rangers’ organization and both have taken big strides this season. Mazara, 20, is hitting .292 with 25 extra-base hits and 42 RBIs. He took a nine-game hitting streak into Saturday’s game. Williams, 21, is hitting .279 with 27 extra-base hits and 33 RBIs. Both signed with the organization in 2012.

Mazara says he’s not concerned about making the leap to Triple A Round Rock.

“I’m just going to keep working hard, do my best every day and have fun,” he said.

In the meantime, he’ll enjoy the new faces at the Futures Game and play against instead of with Williams for one afternoon.

“It’s cool. Both of us will go there and have a lot of fun. It’s a great experience,” he said.

The Futures Game is at 2 p.m. July 12 and will be broadcast on MLB Network and MLB.com.

The 25-man rosters for both clubs were selected by the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com and Baseball America, with input from all 30 major league clubs. Former Reds players Tony Perez (World team) and Ken Griffey Sr. (U.S. team) will manage the teams.

Pan Am players

Frisco right-hander Jake Thompson and Round Rock infielder Tyler Pastornicky have been selected to play for Team USA in the Pan American Games from July 10-19 in Toronto. The 24-player roster includes players not currently on a major league 40-man roster.

Cone moves up

Outfielder Zach Cone, 25, was promoted to Frisco from High A High Desert. Cone was the 37th overall pick in the supplemental first round of the 2011 draft. He was batting .286 with 15 home runs, 51 RBIs, 45 runs scored and six stolen bases in 73 games for the Mavericks.

You serious, Clark?

Short A Spokane outfielder LeDarious Clark has exploded out of the gate with 24 hits through his first 15 games. He’s second in the Northwest League with a .393 batting average (through Thursday’s games). He has multiple hits in six of his past eight games. Clark was selected in the 12th round of the June draft.

Sent down

Right-hander Jose Monegro was demoted from Round Rock to Frisco. He was 1-0 with a 5.91 ERA in six Triple A games, with one start.

This story was originally published July 4, 2015 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Rangers Minor League Insider: Top prospects get taste in Futures Game."