Rangers’ Rougned Odor expects suspension for punching Bautista

Rougned Odor said that he expects to be suspended by Major League Baseball, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, but the Texas Rangers’ second baseman said that he doesn’t regret punching Jose Bautista on Sunday because he felt he needed to defend himself.

Odor spoke to the media Monday afternoon before the Rangers opened a three-game series against the Oakland A’s. He said that he hasn’t been watching TV or looking at newspapers or social media in the aftermath of a brawl with the Toronto Blue Jays that has consumed MLB Network and ESPN.

Odor isn’t sure how long he will be suspended, but the only contrition he showed was wishing he hadn’t had to resort to punching Bautista. Odor, though, said that the six-time All-Star didn’t give him much of an alternative.

“I saw him standing there after the slide,” Odor said. “He was looking at me. I was like, ‘What’s up?’ He was close to me. I had to step back a little bit, and that’s what I did.

“I think you saw what happened yesterday. For me, I think it was a pretty hard slide, but you saw what happened. I knew he was going to come hard. I can tell when somebody is coming hard to second base, so I was just trying to protect myself. It’s part of the game.”

MLB is weighing who to suspend and for how long after the eighth-inning brawl. Odor’s punch came two batters after Matt Bush hit Bautista in the padding on his left elbow and the ball deflected down and hit Bautista in the hip.

It was the first pitch of the inning.

Miffed, Bautista went to first base and later made a late slide into second base as Odor tried to turn a double play. Bautista hopped up with his chest out. Odor shoved him and then beat Bautista to the punch with a right to the jaw as it looked as if Bautista was getting ready to punch him.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre grabbed Bautista and restrained him well back from the growing melee, in which it is believed that Odor also punched reigning MVP Josh Donaldson.

Donaldson, Bautista, manager John Gibbons and right-hander Jesse Chavez, who hit Prince Fielder to start the bottom of the eighth, are facing suspensions in addition to Bush and Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who were not ejected, and bench coach Steve Buechele, who was tossed.

Banister again downplayed if hitting Bautista was intentional as retaliation for his bat flip in Game 5 of the American League Division Series last year. Banister said that the Rangers had had success against Bautista during the series and that they didn’t want to put the potential tying run on base in a 7-6 game.

“People are going to think what they think whether we deny anything or not,” Banister said. “There’s no swaying of opinions now. The point of the matter is that things happened. It got out of hand. It’s got ugly. It’s unfortunate. It’s not what we want.”

Odor said that he doesn’t know how long he will be suspended, though there is precedent for an eight-game ban, but he knows a suspension is coming.

“That’s not my job. I don’t know anything yet. I’m still waiting,” he said. “I know I’m going to be suspended for a couple games. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Banister said that the Rangers have contingency plans in place in case Odor is suspended, but he didn’t speculate as to what they might be. A suspended player can’t be replaced on the 25-man roster, so the Rangers are almost certain to option a reliever to the minors to create a spot for a position player.

Shin-Soo Choo is expected back this week from a rehab assignment, and he can take over in the leadoff spot for Odor. The Rangers could also option outfielder Ryan Rua to the minors to make room for Jurickson Profar if the Rangers decide they want a full-time second baseman rather than using utility man Hanser Alberto.

Profar is no guarantee, though. Rua has experience from the minor leagues at second base and could become a backup to Alberto. Center fielder Ian Desmond was a shortstop until this season and could play there if Elvis Andrus needs time off.

“Any time that you lose a player for any length of time, my thoughts are there are rules in play and we live by rules,” Banister said. “We have our thoughts. Right now, I’m not going to go into talking about anything like that because there’s nothing to talk about yet.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Rougned Odor expects suspension for punching Bautista."