Why Rangers could benefit from limiting Rougned Odor’s playing time - The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON – If there has been one constant within Rougned Odor’s struggles, it is this: He has played every day.

Maybe there’s another way to go about this.

If the Rangers would ever seriously consider limiting his playing time, the conditions have never seemed to be riper. Odor continues to struggle, taking a .107 batting average and .469 OPS into Saturday’s game against Los Angeles after a three- strikeout night. There is a relative abundance of second base options. And the short season continues to evaporate with each passing day.

Manager Chris Woodward, who had referred to this weekend series with the Angels as “pivotal” to the Rangers’ season, seems to inch ever closer to actually taking a new approach with Odor, even though he was back in the lineup Saturday after a three-strikeout night.

“I know the results aren’t there,” Woodward said Saturday. “There are a few things that, just looking at numbers, are a little troubling because I want him to succeed. We need him to succeed. He’s in a good place.”

There was a but, though.

“But we need to obviously see better results on the field,” Woodward said. “Hitting is a fragile thing. I don’t want to break his spirit, but at the same time he needs to control the strikes on there’s some things he needs to do better. I think he understands he puts a lot of pressure on himself, but right now we need him to hopefully take that next step and start having some really positive results for us because we need it as a team.”

The question remains: What are the consequences if he doesn’t?

Because, the numbers say, he hasn’t. And it is no small sample size.

For four years now, the Rangers have waited. Without any consequence. Odor has started 93.8 percent of the games for which he’s been health in that time, an average of 152 over per season in a 162-game season.

What they have received in return is the third lowest WAR (Wins Above Replacement) among the 114 players with at least 1,500 plate appearances since 2017.

It also appears that after a year of evaluation, Woodward is ready to start tinkering with playing time for vets. For example, Shin-Soo Choo, a left-handed hitter like Odor, has started only one of the Rangers’ six games against left-handed pitchers this season. Choo was out of the lineup on Saturday. Choo has a .694 OPS against lefties since Woodward arrived last year. Woodward said he’s challenged Choo to force his way into the lineup against lefties.

The difference between the two: If Odor is turned into something of a platoon player, at this point, it might make more sense to play him against lefties and sit him against right-handers. Over the last year plus, his splits are considerably better against lefties (.773 OPS) than right-handers (.677). Odor began Saturday’s game, though, 0 for 11 against left-handers this season with a walk and one hit by pitch.

“If he really continues to struggle and doesn’t hit balls hard, I will have to make a change at some point,” Woodward said. “But he’s had success against lefties. That’s the difference. I hate to say there’s a short leash with [Odor], but against lefties, I might go with him there.”

For the first time in a while, the Rangers may have options to employ should they want to go to something of a platoon at second base.

If the Rangers choose to start limiting Odor’s exposure against right-handed hitters, they could give rookie Anderson Tejeda, a switch hitter who is naturally a left-handed swinger, more time at second.

Another possibility: Nick Solak, a right-handed hitter, could move from center field to second base more regularly when Danny Santana comes off the IL sometime in the next week. Santana is also a switch hitter who is better from the left side. He had an .858 OPS against right-handers last year. Santana, however, was off to a poor start before he went on the IL. He was 1 for 17 with eight strikeouts.

There may be answers there. There may not.

But the Rangers have tried to allow Rougned Odor to solve his issues by simply playing his way out of them for more than three years. It may be time to look for other answers.

Find more Rangers stories from The Dallas Morning News here.

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