How no Odor (not permanently), a catch and an opener lifted Rangers past Angels
The Texas Rangers were scheduled to arrive home after their Wednesday night game at Angel Stadium at 6 a.m. Thursday, 13 hours before the scheduled first pitch of their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners, meanwhile, were scheduled to arrive to their Metroplex hotel before midnight after playing host to the New York Yankees in a day game.
The entire situation could have been avoided had the Los Angeles Angels done the Rangers a solid, but the Angels don’t do any team any favors in midweek games.
They are notorious for forcing an opponent to play at night when it is trying to get to the next town for a game the next day. They even did it to themselves in April, playing a night game ahead of a game the next day at Kansas City.
The Angels almost always play Sunday day games at home, but that has more to do with tradition than it does helping out another team.
Here’s hoping the Rangers beat the morning rush hour.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 3-0 victory.
On bench, not benched
With his hitless streak at 24 at-bats, Rougned Odor sat Wednesday night even though he was coming off what manager Chris Woodward said was a noticeably better game.
The beauty of an 0-for-3 is in the eye of the beholder, apparently.
Woodward, though, said that he saw significant improvements in Odor. He didn’t strike out for the first time in three weeks, he took away, and he scorched a line drive that was picked off by all-world shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
“He was on time, he was in better position to hit, his path was better to the ball, and there were so many things that were better yesterday that it is something to build off,” Woodward said. “
Woodward stuck to his plan of giving rookie Nick Solak a game at second base. He has earned the chanced to play with his performance, which he backed up with an RBI single in the sixth for the game’s first run.
He singled and scored in the eighth on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s two-run double.
Odor was concerned that an off day might set him back, to which Woodward essentially scoffed.
“One game off, I told him, ‘To solidify a change, you have to repeat it,” he said. “You can’t just say, ‘OK, I figured it out. Now I’m going to take into the game every time.’ So, maybe today is a really good day for him to solidify that in the cage. ... That’s where your habits are built.”
Odor entered the day batting .194 and with a -0.7 WAR. He was used as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, and promptly struck out on four pitches.
Hello, 0 for 25.
Solak was at .320, albeit in only 25 at-bats. With Joey Gallo, Hunter Pence and Nomar Mazara out, there’s no reason to not play Solak somewhere as long as he continues to survive in the first MLB stint of his career.
Catchy play
Delino DeShields has been one of the best defensive center fielders in the game the past few seasons thanks to his blazing speed, improved instincts and route running.
He made arguably the best play of his career in the third inning, making a leaping catch at the center-field wall to take a home run away from counterpart Brian Goodwin, a good friend from their encounters in the minor leagues.
DeShields then played coy, not revealing if he had caught the ball until trotting some 50 feet away from the fence. He put the ball in his right hand and took a bite out of it as he looked toward Goodwin.
“It’s something that I’ve been doing just making plays,” DeShields said. “I don’t know where it came from.”
Both had smiles on their faces, though the meaning behind the smiles might have been just a tad different.
“That’s my boy,” DeShields said. “He wasn’t butt-hurt about it. I kind of felt bad about it, but that’s part of the game. Who know? He might get me some day.”
DeShields continues to be a solid contributor since he made his return to the majors. He entered Wednesday batting .290 with a .353 on-base percentage in the 62 games (47 starts) since his June 2 promotion.
If this is the player he’s going to be, which the Rangers have believed in the past, it shakes up the outfield picture for next season and puts trading a lefty-hitting corner outfielder at the top of the off-season to-do list.
For openers ...
Emmanuel Clase showed off his arm in his first chance to serve as an opener for the Rangers, throwing only two of his 13 fastballs slower than 99 mph.
They were clocked at only 98.
But Clase’s control wasn’t as sharp as it needs to be, though he escaped with a scoreless first inning ahead of Ariel Jurado.
The Angels when flyout, walk, double, walk, double play against Clase, who has the highest average fastball velocity in MLB.
Big-league hitters can hit velo, even when it cuts, if it’s not thrown in the right spot. He threw his slider only to Justin Upton, but it’s a pitch he needs to throw more.
Of course, Clase started the season in Low A and is far from a finished product. That said, it’s hard to envision him ever going back to the minors.
It’s not difficult to see Jurado back in the minors, though he rebounded nicely from three fairly abysmal starts once Clase was finished. Jurado allowed only two hits in six scoreless innings after allowing 20 22 runs (16 earned) in his previous three outings.
“He needed that,” Woodward said. “He’s had a little bit of a tough go lately. He’ll sleep well tonight.”
It helped that Jurado didn’t have to face the top of the Angels’ order in the first inning. Clase took care of that for him.
Jurado will get a chance to compete for a rotation spot in spring training, but in a group that could include Brock Burke, Joe Palumbo, Kolby Allard, Yohander Mendez and Luke Farrell. That doesn’t include any free agents the Rangers could sign.
The Rangers will likely add relief help in the off-season, but no one will have the kind of arm Clase has.
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 12:03 AM.
