2015 in Review

It was looking like the Rangers were going to have to look elsewhere for a second baseman during Jurickson Profar’s convalescence, as Rougned Odor followed up a mediocre showing in 2014 with a .144 batting average in April and May before being sent to Triple-A Round Rock. The time spent in the minors seemed to be just what the 22-year-old needed, however, as he was called back up after slugging .639 in 30 games, and finished the season with 12 home runs over his final 256 at-bats.

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Odor said during the offseason that the demotion was a wakeup call that allowed him to work on certain aspects of his game. "When I went down to Triple-A, I was out of control," Odor told MLB.com in February. "I was swinging at everything. When I went down there, I started swinging at my pitch.”

The stats don’t quite support the idea that Odor became less of a free swinger, as he walked less than 4% of the time in the second half, but there is a fair bit of evidence to suggest that he was squaring up pitches better upon his return.

The first thing to notice is the substantial increase in Odor’s hard contact rate, which jumped more than 10% after the All-Star break (from 22.6% to 33%). We can also look at Odor’s line drive percentage, which rose from 14% to 15% over that span. This resulted in a major power increase, as his .256 ISO led all second baseman in the second half.

2016 Outlook

Odor still has some things to work on, as his overall contact rate (83%) left him outside of the top-10 second baseman with at least 450 plate appearances, while his strikeout rate (17%) was the 12^-worst mark among those at the keystone using the same criteria. It is worth noting, however, that he was able to scale back the punchouts as part of his overall improvement (from 18% to 16% in the second half).

While he is certainly not a perfect player, it is important to remember that Odor is still coming into his own as a major leaguer. He may never be the OBP guy that stat-heads love, but if he can sustain the ability to make solid contact, Odor’s power could play extremely well at second base. He also should have a fair amount of job security heading into the season, as Hanser Alberto and Pedro Ciriaco likely pose more of a threat to his position than Profar, who will begin the season at Triple-A as he begins his climb back to the majors.

Odor has missed some time this spring with an oblique injury, but was able to secure two hits in his return to a minor league game March 17, and there has been no indication that his start to the season is in jeopardy. Odor is currently being selected around pick 90 in standard drafts, and while it’s natural to be put off by the slow start to 2015, there is a very real chance that those who grab him will end up with one of the best power hitters at the position.

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