Texas Rangers: Projected lineups and positioning for Rougned Odor’s return

The Texas Rangers are in for a lineup and positioning shakeup for when Rougned Odor returns Friday night. How will his presence affect each? What will the lineups look like?

With Rougned Odor set to return Friday, the Texas Rangers will have to determine where and how he fits back into the lineup. Obviously, he’ll be a part of the everyday lineup. But where will he hit and how will his presence affect players like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jurickson Profar, Ronald Guzman and Ryan Rua?

Yes, Texas will be happy to have their slugging second baseman back; however, his return will give Jeff Banister a bit of a headache. The good news is today’s version of MLB sees extreme lineup flexibility. Teams have different lineups depending on who is pitching and players get days off at a greater rate than at any point in the past. Thus, the Rangers will experiment with various lineups to see which ones put forth the best product.

Here’s how I see it playing out:

Lineup vs. Right-handed pitchers

1. CF Delino DeShields
2. DH Shin-Soo Choo
3. RF Nomar Mazara
4. 3B Adrian Beltre
5. LF Joey Gallo
6. SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
7. 2B Rougned Odor
8. C Robinson Chirinos
9. 1B Ronald Guzman

Notes

-The top five stays the same as it has been very effective of late.

-Falefa has earned everyday playing time.

-Shin-Soo Choo and Nomar Mazara are the only consecutive batters in the lineup that hit from the same side of the plate. This makes it very difficult for opposing teams to matchup against the Rangers in the late innings.

Possible Adjustments

-Jurickson Profar in, Ronald Guzman out. Profar would play left field and Joey Gallo would play first base.

Based on Jeff Banister’s preferences, he’ll likely keep playing Guzman against right-handed pitchers. Profar has actually hit very poorly against righties. In fact, his slash line against righties is .175/.258/.263 and his OPS is a measly .521.

Personally, I vote in favor of consistent playing time for Profar, regardless of who is on the mound. He puts together better overall at-bats than Guzman and he is more versatile than Guzman. Plus, it’s not like the rookie first baseman is knocking the cover off the ball for the Texas Rangers.

The Odor Exhibition

As you can see, Rougned Odor is in both lineups. Don’t think Odor is a shoe-in for everyday playing time, however. The emergence of Kiner-Falefa and the impression that Profar has made this season place some pressure on Odor. There are plenty of lineup combinations available that can exclude Odor, as we’ve seen lately.

Second base will be Rougned Odor’s to lose, but his leash is shorter than usual. An adjustment could be made over the next couple of weeks if Odor struggles, particularly against left-handed pitchers. Ultimately, his return makes the offense deeper—a luxury that not a single Texas Rangers player or coach will take for granted.

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There you have it! Your Rougned Odor-adjusted lineups. We’ll do this again once Elvis Andrus returns to the Texas Rangers and adds to the infield surplus.