Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Strong Odor
Follow @RyanPBoyer and @Rotoworld_BB on Twitter.
The Rangers hoped when they sent Rougned Odor down to Triple-A Round Rock last month that he’d quickly figure things out in the minors and reclaim his second base job in short order.
Mission accomplished.
Odor had another multi-hit game in Monday’s win over the Orioles, giving him three straight multi-hit efforts and five in 11 starts since being recalled. Overall, the second baseman is hitting .405 with two home runs, nine RBI and four stolen bases in 13 games this month.
Odor’s .144/.252/.233 start to the season that meant a well-earned ticket to Triple-A was certainly disappointing, but keep in mind that, having turned just 21 in February, the infielder is one of the youngest players in the league. You had to figure he was going to hit some bumps in the road. He made adjustments at Round Rock, though, hitting .352/.426/.639 with five homers, 19 RBI and three steals in 29 games and it has carried over to the majors.
With a career .251 average and just 28 walks over his 156 big league games, Odor’s recent batting average spike probably isn’t going to take over the long haul. There’s some pop and speed in the youngster’s game, though, and he looks to be entrenched at or near the top of the Rangers’ batting order for the foreseeable future. Odor is still unowned in a lot of fantasy leagues, but that needs to change.
Editor’s Note: Play one-day fantasy baseball for cash! FanDuel is hosting a $100,000 league for Tuesday’s MLB games. It’s just $5 to join and first place wins $10,000. Starts tonight at 7:05pm ET. Enter now!
Clay Molding Hot Streak
The Red Sox and their disappointing rotation entered Monday with a 4.77 ERA, easily the worst mark in the American League. Clay Buchholz is doing his best to shrink that number.
Buchholz dominated the best offense in baseball in one of the best hitting environments in baseball in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Monday. The right-hander needed just 96 pitches to complete eight brilliant innings, holding Toronto to a mere five hits and one run while striking out five and not walking anyone.
Monday’s effort by Buchholz continued a run of excellent pitching from the right-hander, as he now boasts a 2.13 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 53/10 K/BB ratio over his last nine starts. Buchholz’s ERA has shriveled from 5.73 to 3.48 over that stretch.
Of course, wise fantasy owners probably should have seen Buchholz’s ERA drop coming. Yes, the 5.73 ERA over his first seven starts was ugly, but if you take out a disastrous nine-run turn at Yankee Stadium back on April 12, that number falls to a much more digestible 3.93. And, Buchholz’s K/BB ratio over that stretch was a fantastic 43/13 across 37 2/3 innings. The 30-year-old had been incredibly unlucky with his opponents sporting a .393 BABIP.
In many ways, Buchholz’s see-sawing 2015 campaign perfectly encapsulates his career. The righty has had trouble staying healthy, never making 30 starts or reaching 190 innings. His ERA has been on a roller coaster, going from 1.59 to 6.75 to 4.21 to 2.33 to 3.48 to 4.56 to 1.74 to 5.34 to 3.48. Buchholz’s ERA last year was 5.34 and he had a career-low velocity, so it was hard to see a big 2015 season coming. The velocity has rebounded a bit, though, and as hard as it is to trust him over the long haul, he’s clearly on a roll.
Orioles Shut Down Bundy
Dylan Bundy made his major league debut on September 23, 2012 and had another appearance two days later for the Orioles. It’s hard to believe we haven’t seen him again in the big leagues since then, and it appears the wait will continue for a while longer.
Bundy will be shut down likely for the remainder of the season after an exam by Dr. James Andrews on Monday revealed that the right-hander is dealing with a calcification buildup in his shoulder. The 22-year-old had already been shut down since mid-May with shoulder issues and, for the third straight season, will be unable to eclipse the 50-inning plateau due to injuries.
Going into the 2013 campaign, Bundy was ranked by Baseball America as the best pitching prospect in the game and the No. 2 overall prospect. He was still ranked No. 48 by BA going into 2015 despite all the missed time, but it’s fair to assume his stock will slide again in next year’s rankings.
The good news with Bundy is that his shoulder ailment doesn’t appear serious enough to require surgery, and he could make it back in time to pitch in the Arizona Fall League. Still, after being limited to just 63 1/3 innings since the beginning of 2013 due to elbow and shoulder maladies, he has a lot to prove.
Complicating matters with the youngster is that he will be out of options in 2015 after signing a major league deal when he was drafted. Bundy will either have to be carried on the Orioles’ Opening Day roster or, probably more likely, stashed on the disabled list at the beginning of next season.
National League Quick Hits: Patrick Corbin (elbow) will make his season debut for the Diamondbacks on either July 7 or 8 in Texas … Billy Hamilton reached base four times and stole four bases in six plate appearances on Monday, pushing his league-leading stolen base total to 40 … Mike Bolsinger left Monday’s start against the Diamondbacks after four innings due to a bout of food poisoning … Jedd Gyorko will be recalled prior to Tuesday’s game versus the Mariners, with Cory Spangenberg (knee) the most likely candidate to be placed on the disabled list … Jonathan Lucroy tallied four hits in five at-bats, scoring twice and knocking in two runs in a win over the Phillies Monday … Khris Davis (knee) will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday … Carl Crawford (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday … Brandon Phillips (hands) was not in the Reds’ lineup Monday … Mike Leake was tagged for seven runs in four innings against the Twins on Monday …
American League Quick Hits: Making his second major league start, Cody Anderson brought a perfect game into the seventh inning and settled for eight frames of one-run ball against the Rays on Monday … Matt Moore (elbow) will make his season debut on Thursday against the Indians … The Rangers are considering using Josh Hamilton (hamstring) in center field when he’s activated from the disabled list Tuesday … Eric Hosmer (finger) is not expected to return to the lineup until at least Thursday … Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) began a rehab assignment Monday and could be activated as soon as Friday … Hanley Ramirez (hand) took some swings off a tee Monday and hopes to be back in the Red Sox’ lineup by Thursday … Lance McCullers held the Royals to a lone run in seven innings of work to pick up the win on Monday, lowering his season ERA to 2.19 … Jake Odorizzi (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday … Mitch Moreland drilled a pair of home runs in the Rangers’ win over the Orioles Monday … Jered Weaver (hip) threw a bullpen session on Monday … Dustin Pedroia (hamstring) is making progress and could ramp up his activities this week … Shane Victorino (calf) could be activated from the DL as early as Friday …
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
