Just as Texas Rangers’ Rougned Odor starts to hit, he falls in another kind of slump
The Texas Rangers are coming home, albeit briefly, after a brief road trip to the great state of Colorado.
They will welcome the San Diego Padres to Globe Life Field on Monday and Tuesday. The Padres come armed with one of the game’s top young players, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., and with former Rangers coach Jayce Tingler at manager.
The Rangers will then head to San Diego for two games before going on to Seattle for three.
Scheduling for the 2020 MLB season was not the picnic many thought it would be. It seems like there is too much travel, too many short series, and too much possible exposure to COVID-19.
However, the 60-game season is speeding by. The Rangers reached the one-third mark of the schedule Sunday with a chance to move two games above .500.
The Colorado Rockies and the Rangers’ defense didn’t allow that.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 10-6 loss.
Two Odor slumps
A good news/bad news/bad news situation has developed with Rougned Odor.
It’s good that he connected for a two-run homer Sunday and had a hit in all three games against the Rockies.
But that’s bad to some, because it likely ensures that he and his .151 batting average will be in the Rangers’ lineup for at least a few more games.
And that’s bad, too, because his defense has been, well, bad.
His homer in the second inning gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead, but he helped cough up the lead minutes later. His throw to first base to complete a double play was wide and the inning continued.
Had it been on the money, it would have ended the inning.
“No excuses,” he said. “I should have made that throw in the chest. That was my fault right there.”
Two batters later, Ryan McMahon hit a three-run homer. Later in the inning, a pop-up that would have ended the inning fell between Odor and first baseman Derek Dietrich and allowed a fourth run to score.
Odor was shifted to the shortstop side of second base, but he looked like he could have made the play. Apparently, there was a communication issue between him and Dietrich.
The Rockies added one more run in the inning. Neither play drew an error from the official scorer, but Odor was hit for a throwing error in the fourth on a throw home that short-hopped catcher Jeff Mathis and bounded away to allow a runner to move to third.
Odor also committed a throwing error Saturday.
In the meantime, the swing work he did on a Wednesday off day has produced better results. Lord knows the Rangers can use all the offense they can get, but lord knows Odor is no sure bet to keep hitting.
Defensive slump
Odor’s wide throw on the potential double play cost the Rangers the game, manager Chris Woodward said. They were lucky that five miscues Friday didn’t cost them, and they weren’t all that clean Saturday in a 6-4 win.
The Rangers are in a defensive slump that will prove even more costly if it isn’t corrected.
“Hopefully at the big-league level you don’t run into too many bad streaks defensively,” Woodward said. “We’ve got to be a little more focused on making plays.”
Woodward said the players are doing the necessary work before games to stay sharp. Some players are at new positions (Nick Solak in center, for instance) or at positions where they might not have as much experience (Dietrich and Todd Frazier at first base).
Yes, the Rangers are missing Ronald Guzman’s defense at first. They could use a natural center fielder, which would allow Solak to play more second base while Odor either sits or plays as the designated hitter.
The Rangers expect to have Danny Santana available to play center field next week as his arm continues to build strength. That would also be an upgrade over Solak, who, to his credit, has made several nice plays despite his inexperience at the position.
Santana was reinstated from the injured list Sunday even though he is limited to playing only first and second base. He’s a third option to replace Odor, if the Rangers were to go that route.
It just doesn’t appear they’re going to finally take that step.
Andrus closing in
Odor’s double-play partner, Elvis Andrus, has played every game this season despite some lackluster offensive numbers.
He has yet to connect for a home run, his batting average is .184 and his OPS is .494.
Sheesh.
But if there is a struggling hitter who is close to breaking through, it’s Andrus. Joey Gallo looks to be back in form.
Andrus is making hard contact often, but too often to the wrong part of the ballpark. He was fortunate Sunday as Charlie Blackmon couldn’t catch a line drive to deep right field.
“He’s been really unlucky lately,” Woodward said. “I think this dates back to the homestand we had. He hit some balls really good to center field. He hit two balls here that, unfortunately, were in the deepest part of the field, and then he hit that ball to right field.
“Yeah, he does look better. He’s hitting the ball harder. He’s hitting the ball in the air more. He’s not hitting as many ground balls to the middle of the field. It’s looking better, for sure.”
Andrus continues to play regularly because he is the only shortstop on the roster. Isiah Kiner-Falefa can play shortstop, and could get a game there against the Padres, but he has been the primary third baseman all season.
Kiner-Falefa was out of the starting lineup Sunday after two tough days at the plate. Woodward, though, said it had nothing to do with that, but with how hard Kiner-Falefa has been playing to help keep the Rangers from falling into a deep hole.
“He’s played so hard and done so many things for us,” Woodward said. “You could probably say he is our best player overall for the first 19 games. He has done a heckuva job.”
