Drive For Consistency: Inside Rougned Odor's Hitting Process
Rougned Odor won the hearts of Texas Rangers fans everywhere when he socked José Bautista in the jaw back in 2016. Yet over the past four seasons, fans have progressively withdrawn their support of Rougie after struggling to live up to his six-year, $49.5 million contract.
Rangers management also made a significant decision regarding Odor last season, when they stripped away any guarantee of an everyday spot in the lineup. That decision carried over into spring training with a request — really, a demand — to learn another position, primarily third base.
"I've personally challenged him pretty heavily," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "We've challenged him as an organization in so many ways. We've told him, point blank, 'You have to be better.' And he's taken all the challenges, all the criticism, everything, and said, 'Okay. I got you. I'm going to work on these things, and figure these things out.'
"We had a great talk about his approach, hitting-wise, just how he needs to be consistent, not come off of his plan ever, and not take one pitch or one at-bat for granted."
As we've already touched on this spring, Odor's defensive transition to third base has greatly exceeded just about everyone's expectations.
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"It's like he's played there his whole life," Woodward said. "I thought that his skill set is kind of suited for third base. I think he's a good second baseman as well, but I think the way he's playing third base, and his openness and his work and dedication to that work is leading to this ability to do what he's doing on the field."
Okay. So, the defensive transition paves a way for him to get back into the lineup. But the biggest question with Odor over the past four years has always been at the plate. Specifically, Odor has typically been Babe Ruth in spring training, but failed to carry that success over to the regular season. Then Rougie gets blistering hot for a month during the summer, cools off, then heats back up near the end of the season.
This is where fans get frustrated, and frankly, have gotten sick and tired of it. Guess what? The Rangers have too. They invested almost $50 million in Odor, and they want to get the everything they can out of him. They've taken away his spot in the lineup. His position at second base for the last six years seems destined to be awarded to Nick Solak in 2021. It's the same for every Rangers player, including guys like Odor that are performing well in spring training: everything has to be earned.
"I hope and pray that we get the best version of Rougie all year like this," Woodward said. "If we do, he's an impact guy. He makes guys around him better, and he's got a chance to be an offensive threat. If he doesn't, he obviously knows the consequences. It's going to be less playing time and less at-bats if he doesn't have that consistency."
Odor is having another good showing at the plate in Cactus League play, slashing .357/.400/.643 with one home run, four RBI, and only three strikeouts in 15 plate appearances.
I can hear it now. Ugh, here we go again.
This is by no means a guarantee that this year will be any different from years past. We all know by now we need to see Odor successfully carry his hot bat back to Arlington. But Chris Woodward helped dive into one specific situation in Sunday's win over the Colorado Rockies that could paint a picture of a more mature Rougie.
In the bottom of the third inning, Rangers hitter made Rockies' starter Jon Gray work. Rougie continued that trend, getting ahead in the count 3-0. He then took a hard rip at a grooved fastball that would have left the park, but he yanked it foul. Then Rougie swung-and-missed at a high fastball, bringing the count back to 3-2.
Before you say, same ol' Rougie, Chris Woodward sees the same thing.
"These are the moments where Rougie gets too hyped and he tries to do too much," Woodward said after the game.
Fortunately, Odor was able to lay off the next pitch, drawing a two-out walk.
In the dialogue that followed, the conversation between Woodward and Odor helps explain Odor's mentality at the plate.
"After the bat, I told him 'Hey, what are you thinking after that 3-1 pitch? Were you thinking about hitting another homer?'," Woodward explained. "He goes, 'No, I didn't want to chase that guy down. I didn't want to chase slider down. So I was actually looking for a fastball up.'
"Okay! I mean, if that's what you were looking for and you swung at it, mission accomplished. Was it a little bit higher than the strike zone? Maybe, but that's where he was looking. And that's what he so that tells me, 'Okay, he's sticking to his game plan.' And then he ended up not chasing down and ends up walking."
Who knows if Odor can finally get everything to click. He is not in the same standing with the club that he was in the past, and the Rangers have younger guys who are ready to prove themselves and both second and third base. And as much as the Rangers want Odor to succeed, Odor wants it even more.
"He just has to maintain this," Woodward said. "Honestly, this is the biggest thing for us. Just maintain this behavior, this attitude, this mentality, this commitment to every pitch.
"Those are the things that, from a maturity standpoint, you just got to do it every time; every at-bat. Not in big moments, but every at-bat — nobody on base, two outs — you gotta have the same intensity and the same focus. And that's the challenge."
Promo photo: Kelly Gavin / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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