Rangers' Odor and Kiner-Falefa Have Seemingly Picked Up Where They Left Off at Spring Training
The Texas Rangers hosted their first intrasquad game of Summer Camp on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field. While it was pretty informal—Kyle Gibson recorded six outs in the fourth inning—some continuity between Spring Training and Summer Camp was on display.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was easily the best player at Rangers Spring Training. Not only did he record eye-popping numbers, he forced management to seriously consider more at-bats from the outset of the regular season before camp was suspended. Naturally, one of the big questions heading into Summer Camp was going to be whether or not Kiner-Falefa could sustain his success in Arizona.
In two at-bats on Sunday, Kiner-Falefa lined out hard to right field and laced a line drive into the right-center gap for an RBI double, which was the only run Kyle Gibson allowed on Sunday.
"He looks like we never stopped," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "Taking three months off and then to still maintain that rhythm and timing is pretty impressive. So that tells me a lot of that may be consistent. That's what we're hoping, obviously."
Rougned Odor was another one of the more impressive Rangers at Spring Training. While he's had strong springs in the past, his overall approach seemed to be different this past spring. Like Kiner-Falefa, he's been able to carry that over into Summer Camp seamlessly. He homered off Jose Leclerc on Friday and ripped two hard-hit doubles into the left-center gap off Joe Palumbo and Alex Speas respectively.
"He had a really good spring before we got shut down, he bought into a lot of things, he's made a lot of subtle adjustments," Woodward said. "For him to hit 97 (and) up off Speas. That was not an easy pitch to get on top of. And he did it the other day against Pico (Leclerc), who has really high spin, he did it today against Speas, so that tell's me he's in a really good place."
Chris Woodward has called Rougned Odor a game changer. The 60-game season seems to play into Odor's game. If Odor can hit the ground running when the season starts, the Rangers may have that middle-of-the-order bat they were seeking over the winter.
As for Kiner-Falefa, his defensive versatility gives the Rangers a number of ways to get his bat in the lineup. If first base is still up for grabs by the end of Summer Camp, Todd Frazier could slot over there with Kiner-Falefa manning the hot corner. Either way you slice it, having options is a welcomed change from the past few years.
Kyle Gibson Looks Sharp in Summer Camp Debut
No, it's not typical Cactus League or regular season action, but Kyle Gibson's first outing of Summer Camp was overwhelmingly positive.
Gibson threw 59 pitches (35 strikes) over four innings, allowed three hits, one run, no walks, and struck out four. As mentioned previously, he pitched a longer fourth inning to get enough work in for his first Summer Camp outing.
“We were trying to stay right in between 13-15 pitches an inning so I could get to that 60-pitch mark," Gibson said. "That extra get-up and sit-down can sometimes get you. I think it was good to stay out there. I’d rather have one long inning the first time out versus going back, sitting down and cooling off and then having to get back up again. That’s just a little bit harder of an adjustment to make the first time out.”
Despite the shutdown, Rangers starters have been quite successful at staying ready. Corey Kluber threw 85 pitches and Mike Minor threw 77 pitches on Saturday. While Gibson didn't throw the same volume of pitches, he successfully continued his throwing program that ramped a few weeks ago.
“I feel like it’s lined up pretty good. This would have basically been my fourth outing at four innings," Gibson said of his typical Spring Training program. "Very rarely am I going to get seven outings in Spring Training, which that’s essentially what I’m going to get now.”
The Rangers will host another intrasquad game on Monday at 1 p.m. with Jordan Lyles and Kolby Allard pitching.
Follow Inside The Rangers on SI on Twitter: @SITexasRangers
Like Inside The Rangers on SI on Facebook: facebook.com/SITexasRangers
Follow our Rangers insider Chris Halicke on Twitter: @ChrisHalicke
