Texas Rangers Shouldn’t Send Rougned Odor Down

After last night’s win, the Texas Rangers have won four straight and are slotted third in the AL West, just a half game behind the Angels for second place and 6.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the division lead. While it’s hard to fathom that the team will make enough moves to go “all in” with ace Yu Darvish on the shelf for the rest of the season, and Derek Holland‘s health in question, a strong showing in the next few weeks could persuade GM Jon Daniels to make a couple of minor moves to give his team a better shot.

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One player that has been largely underwhelming this season has been second baseman Rougned Odor, who’s batting .144 with one home run, nine rbi and has 25 strikeouts in 90 at bats, for a K% of 27.78. Many are calling for something to be done about Roogie, but there isn’t necessarily an improvement that can be inserted from down on the farm. While Ed Lucas (.330) and Thomas Field (.298) are hitting the ball well while manning second with Round Rock, they don’t represent the future of the club. Lucas is nearly 33 while Field is 28, both more seasoned than Odor’s 21 years.

Bringing up either of these other options sounds like a good idea right now, in the present, but would it help Odor’s development in the long term? My guess is no. What can be done is to limit his playing time for the time being, allowing him to clear his head a bit, but even that option may not be the best course of action. Only Odor and Adam Rosales have manned second for Texas this season, and while Rosie’s sample size is minuscule (3 games, 10 at bats), he’s hitting a mere .100 while at the position.

I don’t have the cure for Odor’s struggles, but he also isn’t the crux of the offense, so allowing him to work through his struggles could be what’s best for the Texas Rangers in the long run. I still believe that he’ll turn it around this season, but after another 0-fer night with multiple strikeouts it’ll continue to be difficult for Jeff Banister to justify playing him every game. This could be an area that Daniels looks to improve upon if a trade is to be made.

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