Rangers Reaction: Extra-bases and nifty defense signal more progress for Odor

Rougned Odor has slowly but surely improved at the plate. He hit his fifth homer in Saturday's 7-2 loss and went 2 for 4.

Four of his homers have come since June 20. He's batting over .260 since May 27 with 33 hits and 13 walks in 34 games. He has 35 strikeouts in that stretch (about one a game) but his batting average has increased to .234 from .186 on May 26.

He also doubled in the fourth to give him his first multiple extra-base game in 2018. He struck out looking in the eighth, but after falling behind 0-2 stretched it to an 11-pitch at-bat.

Odor also made two dazzling plays at second base, including a diving stop to his left and quick turn and throw to get a force out at second.

"Quality day by Rougie," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "Defensively, he had a great play there late. He’s progressing forward and trending in the right direction. The way he's played the game here in the last month is indicative of his work."

Odor has been working with bench coach Tony Beasley on his defensive footwork and it seems to be working. He's only made three errors this season, his last coming May 23.

Five bits from Saturday's loss in Motown:

1. Get out of the sun — Cole Hamels is 0-6 with an 8.35 ERA in six day starts this season. He's taken a loss in eight consecutive day starts since winning on July 1, 2017 at the White Sox.

2. Walk this way — Friday's two hour, five minute game featured no walks. It's only the third game in the majors this season no walks. The other two were both in the National League. The last time an A.L. game had no walks was the Indians at Tigers on Sept. 2, 2017. Texas has played in three of the past six no walk games in the AL since the 2016 All-Star break. The Rangers have walked none in five games this season but are 1-4 in those games.

3. Banister in Russia — Jeff Banister was part of a minor league All-Star team that traveled to Russia on a Diamond Diplomacy Tour in 1988. The team, made up of Eastern League Double-A All-Stars, played games against the national teams in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, among others. They played some games Moscow's Olympic Stadium, which is the site of the 2018 World Cup final. That's what prompted Banister's stories of Red Square and Perestroika era Russia before the Cold War was officially over. Banister's team was there for exhibition games and to hold baseball clinics

"The Russian Olympic Federation wanted their guys to play against us," Banister said. "I think we played three games before they had a hit."

The teams eventually mixed the players to make the games more competitive.

"I had a blast but when we got back home I’ve never been so happy to see a McDonald’s in my life," he said.

4. Eye on Gallo — Joey Gallo was back in the lineup Saturday after being scratched from Friday's lineup. Gallo said his left eye, which was hit by Delino DeShields' glove during batting practice, was much better. He wasn't cut but his vision was blurred after the near collision a little over an hour before first pitch. He saw a doctor after the game started Friday evening and visited an eye doctor's office Saturday morning. He was given some vision tests a few eye drops.

"My pupil got really small and I was having trouble seeing," Gallo said. "I’ll get another checkup in a couple of weeks just to make sure everything is good. When it happened I thought it was going to be a lot worse because I really couldn’t open my eye."

Of course, a batter is only as good as his eyes, so the initial blow freaked out Gallo.

"In baseball your eyes are so important. You need your vision so that’s why you get a little nervous with your eyes. We just wanted to be safe," he said. "We didn't really full-on slam in to each other which is good."

Especially for DeShields.

5. Rotation options — Martin Perez (right elbow soreness) is likely to be available this week, which gives Banister options with the rotation before the All-Star break on July 16. The Rangers could squeeze Perez into the rotation and give each pitcher an extra day of rest or they could start him when Sunday's starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who is scheduled to start at the Orioles on July 14.

"We're looking at the appropriate place," he said. "If Martin comes out of [Saturday's] bullpen session good the next step is to get him into the mix of our rotation. We're looking at what we feel the advantage would be."

This story was originally published July 7, 2018 at 7:43 PM.