Rangers notes: Napoli in left no experiment, Banister says

This is not a drill.

And this is not an experiment, as Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.

Mike Napoli will start again in left field Wednesday with Houston Astros left-handed ace Dallas Keuchel on the mound.

Banister wasn’t detered by Napoli’s error on a relatively routine shallow fly ball Monday night. He dismissed the notion that he was experimenting. Although it may just be semantics, because if Napoli were to struggle in left it’s unlikely he’d remain a viable option. But no runs scored because of his error and the Rangers’ offense has scored 17 runs in two wins with Napoli in left.

For now, the rewards outweigh the risks. Joey Gallo started in left in Tuesday’s game with Astros’ right-hander Collin McHugh on the mound.

“The reward for us on the offensive side just in the two games has been far greater than anything we’ve gotten versus left-handers any other time,” said Banister, who has started 12 players in left this season. “[We’ll] continue to have Mike work [at it] and be out there. My guess is he becomes more comfortable.”

Napoli, who never had played in the outfield in his professional career, joked that the fly ball took a bad hop.

“It’s a ball I have to catch,” he said. “I missed it. My first reaction was to break back a little bit [before realizing it was falling shallow].” Napoli, a former catcher, has only played first base since 2013.

“It’s harder than you think, especially not being out there,” said Napoli, who played 10 innings in left before getting his first chance. The anticipation of getting the first one [was nerve-wracking]. I got it over with.”

“I want to have the best defense we can out there,” Banister said. “We’ve been struggling against left-handers to put offense on the board. With all the guys we’ve put out there we haven’t been getting that offense.”

Banister defends Odor

Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor has had a penchant for irking some opponents this season with his hard slides, bat flipping and by what some could perceive as overly aggressive play. The Astros, for instance, took exception to some of Odor’s actions in July. At one point, both benches cleared when catcher Hank Conger and Odor exchanged words during Odor’s at-bat. When the topic was brought up before Tuesday’s game, Banister was having none of it.

“I take offense to any other player who thinks the way he plays the game is offensive,” he said. “Guess what? Everybody in the big leagues should play like him. It’d be a much better product.”

After the scrum in July, Banister said he has nothing but respect for opposing players who play with the same type of passion he sees in Odor.

“This is a young man that has passion for the game and goes out to play hard and win every night,” he said. “I take offense to anybody who believes that’s wrong. Shame on them. That’s my statement to that. Running hard, sliding hard, running everything out, playing with an attitude? Ask Bob Gibson about that one.”

Sept. 26 time change

Chirinos throws

Catcher Robinson Chirinos threw in the batting cage for the first time since having a tendon snap in his right shoulder last week in Seattle. The pain has lessened, he said, but he still needs a week before being available.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Rangers notes: Napoli in left no experiment, Banister says."