After Leonys Martin went on an extended slump to start the season as the Texas Rangers' new leadoff hitter, new manager Jeff Banister made a switch on Tuesday night just to change things up a bit.
He went with second-year second baseman Rougned Odor, the 21-year-old kid, and Odor set the tone early on with one of the best at-bats of his brief career. Known as a free-swinger and hater of walks, Odor worked an eight-pitch at-bat to start off the Rangers' half of the first and drew a walk before later scoring on an RBI knock from Mitch Moreland.
Banister made a point to say the lineup change was far from anything permanent, and he was just trying to make a change to light a spark. The spark worked as every Rangers starter except Adrian Beltre got a hit in the 8-2 win over the Angels.
Odor has shown an early affinity for walks this year, at least compared to last season, and his walk Tuesday night was his third walk in nine games after walking just 17 times in 114 games last season. He's also been hit-by-pitch a league-high for times this year.
The end results? Despite his .172 batting average, he is sporting a .333 on-base percentage. That's a great sign for the 21-year-old.
