Second base has been a issue for the Rangers for several seasons now. Odor has not looked good since signing that big contract. I’m not sure at this point that he could live up to it no matter what he does. On Wednesday night, the Ranger started a player that they just got off the waiver wire, Derek Dietrich. While he had a great debut, the 31 year old has not exactly tore it up during his career.
Dietrich played for the Reds in 2019, posting a slash line of .187/.328/..462/.790. I know batting average isn’t everything anymore, but doesn’t .187 sound familiar? In 2019, Rougned Odor hit .205/.283/.409/.721. Similar numbers. Odor has a career batting average of .239 while Dietrich has a career batting average of .246.
I know it is easy to get excited about the debut of Dietrich last night and the think the Rangers have found a replacement for Odor, but I would hold my horses (pun intended) before giving Dietrich a long term deal to be the infielder of the future. Right now anyone looks better than Odor at second, and Rangers fans (including myself) have been wondering why he has been getting so many chances. It may be the contract, it may be because the team and management likes him. There is also a possibility that it is because he punched Jose Bautista.
The Rangers did what they had to do, and that was go find someone to put pressure on Odor. I think that is all they were doing here. They want Odor to know that he CAN be replaced, not that he has been replaced. Unless he continues with the production of the first game, Dietrich will not be a Ranger for long IMO. The team seems dead set on having Rougned Odor on the field playing second, not sure why. As the season rolls on, it should be interesting to see how this plays out, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the team has found Odor’s replacement. They haven’t.
