Mazara, Nicholas to serve as Rangers injury fill-ins

Prized prospect Nomar Mazara was added to the Texas Rangers' roster Sunday morning along with Brett Nicholas to cover the Saturday injuries to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo and catcher Robinson Chirinos.

Mazara and Nicholas left from Des Moines, Iowa, where Triple A Round Rock was playing, and arrived at Angel Stadium before the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels. Chirinos, who has a broken right arm and will miss 10 to 12 weeks, was placed on the 60-day disabled list to open spots on the 25- and 40-man rosters for Nicholas, and Choo, who has a strained right calf, went on the 15-day disabled list to make room for Mazara.

Mazara will be the everyday right fielder in place of Choo, who is expected to miss four to six weeks. Mazara, a left-handed hitter with an advanced approach, batted .375 (12 for 32) with one homer and eight RBIs last month in his first big league camp, and the Rangers don't want to stunt his development by having him sit on the bench.

He is the youngest players in the major leagues at 20 years old. He turns 21 on April 26.

Nicholas will become the backup to Bryan Holaday. The 27-year-old Nicholas was also in his first spring training last month, batting .389 (7 for 18) with two home runs. The Rangers are likely to pursue catching help from outside the organization.

Choo was injured Saturday during batting practice as he did some stretching and conditioning in the outfield.

Chirinos was hurt when he couldn't get out of the way of a Garrett Richards fastball that tailed inside. Chirinos, who was ruled to have swung at the pitch, eventually flied out to deep right field before exiting the game. X-rays taken during the game showed a fracture in his forearm.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Mazara, Nicholas to serve as Rangers injury fill-ins."