Fracas showed Rangers’ Odor has rediscovered his edginess

Boos didn’t descend upon Rougned Odor on Monday night at Coors Field as they did a day earlier at Minute Maid Park, the site of the second baseman’s ascent to the top of Houston’s Most Wanted List.

His benches-clearing fracas with Astros backup catcher Hank Conger brought upon the wrath of the Astros’ faithful, which is growing by the victory, while simultaneously putting to rest any concerns among the Texas Rangers’ brass that Odor hasn’t rediscovered the edginess that had been missing the first five weeks of the season.

It’s back, and Odor is back. It’s what helped him become a top-40 prospect entering last season and helped him survive his rookie season last year after a May promotion from Double-A Frisco.

Odor is going to play hard, get dirt on his uniform, and play with the sole intent of helping his team win. If he rubs the Congers of the world the wrong way, so be it.

The Rangers have no complaints since he returned from his demotion to Triple-A Round Rock.

“I take offense when guys don’t play hard,” manager Jeff Banister said. “He’s played hard every single inning since he’s been back. That’s what you get paid for. Play hard every single day.

“The thing that we challenged him with when he walked out the door was to go back and find the edge that made him go.”

Odor was back in the lineup at Coors Field as the Rangers opened a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, who scored seven times in the first two innings against Nick Martinez.

The Rangers, though, charged back with the next six runs, two courtesy of Odor in the fifth. He had an RBI single and then scored a second run on a Prince Fielder groundout, taking advantage as Rockies first baseman Ben Paulsen thought he had recorded the third out and headed toward the dugout.

Colorado led 7-6 in the eighth at press time.

Odor entered the game batting .362 (34 for 94) with four homers and 17 RBIs in 26 games since returning from the minors June 15.

His average had soared to .255 after bottoming out at .144 before being optioned.

“I was struggling a little bit,” Odor said. “I was trying to do everything right, and I forgot how I play. Now, I feel like normal.”

Normal to Odor means running out routine flyballs, diving for grounders, swinging hard in case he hits the ball, and, to the dismay of Astros fans, sliding into second base with the purpose of breaking up a double play.

The Astros’ second baseman, All-Star Jose Altuve, was on the receiving end of Odor’s hard slide early in the game Saturday. He is Odor’s countryman and former teammate with Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter League.

The two spoke after the play, and Odor sensed that everything was normal between them.

Two days later, Odor wasn’t apologizing for the way he played.

“I always play like I played,” said Odor, who followed the skirmish with a triple. “I play hard. I play aggressively. I’m just trying to do everything right.”

Conger was angry with Odor for taking extra time before stepping back into the batter’s box in the ninth inning. When he stood up, Fielder came from the on-deck circle to defend Odor, and the benches cleared.

Fielder, one of the veterans who Scott Feldman said Odor needs to learn from, has no problem with the way Odor plays and said that Odor is a terrific teammate who does all the right things in preparing for each game.

“He plays hard, and that’s all you can ask for,” Fielder said. “He’s been doing excellent. He handled it really well.”

For his role in the fracas, Fielder said he was just trying to “make sure I was involved in the conversation” and noted that things cooled down between Odor and Conger once he arrived. Then, everyone else started shouting and shoving.

Odor said he has had no issues with any of his teammates before the incident or since.

“My teammates are always great with me,” he said. “I’m a good friend to my teammates. I’m a good person, I think.”

Banister said that the Rangers need a player like Odor, whose hustle is a throwback. He’s going to rile up other teams at some point, too.

That’s fine by the Rangers, who are thrilled that Odor has rediscovered the edginess that makes him a good player and landed him a spot atop Houston’s Most Wanted List.

“That’s just him,” Fielder said. “That’s the way he plays. He’s not out to show up anyone. If they don’t like him, that’s their problem.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Fracas showed Rangers’ Odor has rediscovered his edginess."