Rougned Odor says he should start for Texas Rangers. It won’t be at second if he does

The best opportunity for Rougned Odor to receive steady at-bats in 2021 is not at second base.

Manager Chris Woodward said so Friday morning.

He also said that Odor doesn’t want to be at third base, but he’s doing it.

Odor can see the writing on the wall, but he didn’t really want to talk about it Friday afternoon at Texas Rangers spring training.

Where and when he plays is up to the manager, Odor said, before saying that he should be a starter.

The fact is that Odor hasn’t earned the right to be the starting second baseman anymore. He might end up there, if Nick Solak doesn’t impress enough during spring training or is injured or gets swallowed by a sinkhole.

Or if ...

Odor can be the offensive force the Rangers still deep-down believe he is, with more consistency than what he has shown.

Ever confident, at least outwardly so on the field with his teammates and on Zoom with the media, Odor still believes he can be that guy.

Maybe it’s denial that drives him. Maybe it’s desperation, for him and the Rangers.

“He’s definitely giving an effort when he’s out there working,” Woodward said. “He’s in a really good spot as far as just trying to stay positive through this all. He knows it’s a bit of an uphill climb for him.”

Odor has been getting early work at third and has been working there during batting practice, Woodward said. The challenge will be getting used to a new side of the diamond, not being able to see what pitch is being thrown and having less time to react.

Odor has never played third since signing with the Rangers, but he did play there during the 2017 World Baseball Classic for Venezuela. His competition for the job is two veteran utility players, Brock Holt and Charlie Culberson.

Of course, Odor’s hitting is what remains the biggest concern for the Rangers.

He has 30-homer power, but it seems like almost all of it comes in September. He has batted .204, .253, .205 and .167 the past four seasons since signing a six-year, $48.5 million contract.

His OPS+ has been below 100, which is considered average, in all four seasons.

“There’s a lot of little things that he needs to get better at that, overall, improve the numbers,” Woodward said. “But I think it’s, I hate to say it, but it’s the process for him, making sure he stays grounded in that process. And if I see that on a daily basis, and then there’s the results to back it up, he’d be an impact guy at that point.”

Odor knows his average has been lousy, but he says that’s all that’s been missing. He said he addressed those things in the offseason, working out with former Rangers players Robinson Chirinos and Nomar Mazara rather than working with the Rangers.

Odor hasn’t spent an offseason at Rangers facilities and with hitting coach Luis Ortiz since before the 2019 season.

But Odor said that he also worked on the mental side of baseball, a game in which failing 70% of the time is considered very good. He wants to block out the negative, which in his case is a lot blocking.

Maybe that’s why he said, multiple times, that he’s just ready to focus on the game and that he’s leaving the details to Woodward.

“I’m just ready to play baseball,” Odor said. “I leave that to Woody. That’s his job, to put me wherever he thinks I’m going to help the team better. I’m just positive right now. I don’t want to be thinking too much about other things.”

But it’s not up to Woodward. Odor needs to do the things that will give him the best chance to succeed. If he does find the player he was in 2016, which led to his payday, he can be one of the Rangers’ most productive and powerful hitters along with Joey Gallo.

That’s a Gallo-sized if, though.

“We don’t really have anybody that has the kind of power besides Joey to impact the baseball the way he does,” Woodward said of Odor. “If he’s consistent with it, he’s one of the better infielders in the game offensively. But there’s a lot of things that have to happen for, obviously, that to take place.”