Texas Rangers 2017 Positional Breakdown: Second Base

Rougned Odor

Barring injury, Rougned Odor will be the Opening Day second baseman for the third consecutive season. At 23 years-young, Odor will already be entering his fourth full season in the Majors. With the 2016 season being the best in his young career, Odor still has room to improve.

It was a memorable 2016 for Odor for many of reasons. Of course, the infamous punch ascended him to legend status in the DFW area. He also slugged 33 home runs, 3rd among second baseman.

The punch he provides for a second baseman holds incredible value, especially from the left-handed side of the plate. His ISO rating of .231 is high for any position let alone second base. However, Odor is not without his flaws offensively.

His 21.4 K% was the 2nd-highest among second baseman. He doesn’t hit for a high average either as his .271 average was in the bottom half of second baseman. Odors biggest weakness as a hitter is his plate discipline. His absurdly low 3.0 BB% was the lowest in all of baseball. Odor only drew 19 walks in 632 plate appearances.

Defensively, Odor needs vast improvement. His -12.8 UZR ranks dead-last among second baseman by a healthy margin. He does have a strong arm and is athletic enough to improve his range which is something he must do in 2017.

If Odor can improve his plate discipline and defense we could be looking at one of the game’s elite second baseman. At only 23 years-old he has plenty of room and time to improve. Expect another season with close to 30 home runs for Odor and don’t be surprised to see a spike in walks.