No, really: Rangers’ Odor starting to turn season around

The second baseman for the Texas Rangers the past 10 games really is Rougned Odor, not some stunt double or doppelganger.

Seriously.

Odor himself has put together a career-high 10-game hitting streak to lift his average north of .220, and has been more selective at the plate.

It’s Odor who has looked more like the Odor the Rangers signed to a six-year, $49.5 million extension after a banner 2016, not the Odor who looked more as he did to open 2015.

The turnaround has been overdue — long overdue, according to the armchair managers on Twitter — and there is more behind it than just simply wearing Adrian Beltre’s batting gloves the past three games.

But every little bit helps.

“I’ve just been feeling pretty good at the plate,” Odor said. “I haven’t changed anything at the plate.”

Odor was hitless in his first three at-bats Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels before roping a seventh-inning double to left. The Rangers won 5-2 Saturday night for their third consecutive victory. Beltre connected for a two-run homer in the third to break a 1-1 tie.

Odor said that not much has changed mechanically, as the swing looks much as it has all season. But the quality of the at-bats has changed as Odor has started seeing the ball better and is chasing fewer pitches out of the strike zone.

Better timing always accompanies that.

“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m seeing the ball better, too. When you start seeing the ball better, you start feeling good at the plate.”

Manager Jeff Banister has another theory, one that says the turnaround is more mental that physical.

The return of Beltre, primarily, but also the returns of Carlos Gomez and Mike Napoli have taken some of the pressure off Odor to be a key run producer in the lineup.

After launching 33 home runs last season — which he is on pace to do again this season — Odor may have felt compelled to pick up the slack in the middle of the lineup with Beltre out the first 51 games of the season and with Gomez and Napoli needing injury time more recently.

“I have to look at that as part of the process,” Banister said. “There are times guys look up at the scoreboard and see the scores and see the direction of how we’re playing, and when you’re supposed to be or are a focal point of the lineup, not everyone is as strong as you think they were.

“There are times when young guys will look at themselves as, ‘Hey, I’ve got to do something.’ And they can get themselves into some thought processes along the way, and our hitting coaches will work on calming them and letting them understand that you only get four at-bats a night. Handle them appropriately.”

Odor said that Beltre’s return might be boosting him, but that he hasn’t felt pressure to produce in light of injuries or the contract extension. He also said that he has managed to avoid getting frustrated.

After struggling in 2015, when he batted only .144 over his first 29 games before getting sent to Triple A Round Rock, he returned to bat .292 over his final 91 games, hitting 15 of his 16 homers on the season.

A second-year player learned that much can happen over the course of a season.

“I know it’s a long season,” he said. “You have to be the same person and be the best teammate I can be. I know we trust each other. We don’t care how we’re hitting. If I’m not hitting well, I know the guy hitting behind me is going to pick me up. That’s how we are.”

The bottom line as Banister sees it is that Odor has been an asset this season, more than some of his numbers would suggest.

“I think there are parts of his game that have been extremely productive,” Banister said. “I think that he has been a very solid player for us. I think that he has been as strong of a producing player as we’ve had.

“They all want more. He wants more. I don’t think he’s anywhere satisfied with where he’s at.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2017 at 10:38 PM with the headline "No, really: Rangers’ Odor starting to turn season around."