Texas Rangers: Will Rougned Odor Bounce Back in 2018?

The 2017 regular season is over, and the Texas Rangers now need to turn their focus to improving their organization this off-season. One of the first items on the list is helping Rougned Odor bounce back and fix his swing.

The Texas Rangers had plenty of problems over the course of the 2017 season. One of the bigger problems was that slugger Rougned Odor completely lost his swing. He went from a middle of the order superstar to a struggling hitter you could barely rely on.

In 2016, Odor finished with a 2.4 WAR, and was one of the biggest breakout stories around the league. This season was a completely different story as Odor finished with a -0.2 WAR, and had fans questioning why the organization extended him long-term.

Over last off-season the Rangers finalized a six-year $49.5 million deal with Odor. That locks him up through the 2020 season with a team option for 2023. Will Odor still be on the Rangers by the time his contract expires?

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It seems unlikely that the Rangers would give up on Odor after just one bad season, especially after giving him such a long extension. To be fair Odor did finish second on the team in home runs with 30, and fifth in RBIs with 75 this season.

The problem was Odor just couldn’t get on base unless he hit a home run. This season Odor’s on base percentage dropped nearly 50 points from 2016. His slugging percentage went from .507 to .397 this season.

The Rangers are going to need Odor to have a bounce back season in 2018. The team doesn’t need him to be an All-Star, but he needs to be getting on base if he’s going to bat in the top half of the batting order.

Luckily for Texas there should be no reason why the Rangers shouldn’t expect Odor to fully bounce back next season. He put together three consecutive solid seasons before his horrendous 2017 campaign.

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Hopefully having some time off this off-season can help Odor get his mind straight. He played in every single game in 2017, and could very well just need a break to recharge and get back to helping the Rangers win baseball games.

The 2017 regular season is over, and the Texas Rangers now need to turn their focus to improving their organization this off-season. One of the first items on the list is helping Rougned Odor bounce back and fix his swing.

More from Nolan Writin'

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