SEATTLE - We interrupt your Nomar Mazara euphoria for a brief reminder that, just like Mazara, Joey Gallo a year ago had three hits and a home run in his major league debut.

And how did that work out?

After the big debut, Gallo posted .645 OPS and a strikeout roughly once in every other at-bat. And let's not even talk about how low his confidence sunk.

So what's the difference between what the Rangers can expect from Mazara for however long his first trip through the majors lasts and what happened to Gallo?

They are vastly different hitters.

While Gallo is a pure slugger still learning to recognize pitches, Mazara, despite being 18 months younger, is a refined hitter who has power, three major league evaluators said Tuesday.

"Mazara's approach and instincts are so advanced for his age," said one AL scout. "He uses the field and is a threat in any count. Basically, he owns the plate."

Brief as Mazara's career may be, one stat sums up the difference between the two. Mazara had more two-strike hits in his first major league game than Gallo had in his first major league season. Gallo was 1 for 64 last season when the count got to two strikes. Mazara went 2 for 2 in those situations. It suggests Mazara found a way to make adjustments to the pitcher within a single at-bat.

In his first major league at-bat, Mazara fell behind Jered Weaver 1-and-2, then fouled off a 75 mph slider. He followed by watching an 82 mph "fastball" out of the zone. He finished things off by waiting an hour for Weaver's 64 mph curve ball to arrive, then was able to keep his bat in the strike zone another half an hour to lace the ball to center field.

On Monday, Mazara singled in both of his first two at-bats against Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma. On the second, he fell behind 0-2, then went with a fastball outside and lined it to left.

Improving that aspect of his game was the focus for Gallo, 22, during the spring and at Triple-A Round Rock. He showed strides in that area during spring, but Mazara, who turns 21 in two weeks, is already there.

"He has the ability to use the other field and the ability to stay back and hit the offspeed pitch," manager Jeff Banister said. "We saw it in spring training and we saw it [Sunday]. The reality is in the first at-bat, he was out front a little, but had the control to keep the barrel in the hitting zone. He's a guy who can fall down in the count and you can still feel comfortable that he's going to give you a professional at-bat."

This is how the scouts summed it up:

From a veteran AL scout who has watched Mazara extensively: "He has shown an ability to make quicker adjustments and recognize plans of attack earlier in his career than Gallo to this point. He has the ability to not just adjust his approach, but also his swing path. He stays on the ball well."

From an NL scout: "He doesn't have the same swing. Gallo had a lot of big holes, and everybody saw that. This kid's swing is much better."

Need evidence?

On the second night of his big league career, Gallo struck out in his first three at-bats.

Mazara: He had hits in his first two at-bats.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant