Texas Rangers: Recapping Rougned Odor’s 2017 Season

Rougned Odor’s 2017 season did not go the way Texas Rangers fans were hoping it would go. If anything, it went the complete opposite way that critics could have anticipated. After a strong 2016 had officially just begun his reign of dominance. It seems as though Odor is still not quite there yet.

Shortly before the season began, Odor was signed to a six-year contract worth about $50 million. The Texas Rangers included a generous bonus in the deal, giving Odor two horses as a gift.

The 23-year-old from Venezuela has now played four seasons. But he’s not yet learned everything. It may seem that his bad season may have slowed his learning down, but the bottom line is that Odor is still learning and still has much to learn. In any case, he must be ready for anything. And perhaps having a bad season is part of the learning process. He must at the point to where he’s learning on how to bounce back.

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At the end of April, Odor’s batting average was .196. He was never able to have a batting average over .300 in a monthly total this season. Four months with a batting average under .200. His worse being in August when he finished

Playing in all 162 games, Odor’s numbers were average. Though he hit 30 home runs, which is only three less than he hit in 2016, Odor only had 124 hits. He struck out 162 times, which is a career high.  Finishing the season with a .204 batting average is certainly disappointing.

What happened to him this season is tragic and it’s a hard pill for him, the Rangers organization, and the fans to swallow. Some may say it’s because he was distracted due to his big contract. Odor just had a bad year. It’s unclear why but it happens. Especially when you’re learning. Odor’s yet to be in prime, so it’s nothing to worry about. 2017 is over and no doubt, Odor has moved on and is already concentrating on next season.

At the moment, we can only hope Odor arrives at next year’s Spring Training in good shape and healthy and take it from there. For now, we can only wait and see how things go for him.