MLB Game Preview - Seattle at Texas

Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:05 PM EDT

Rougned Odor's slump continues and his spot in the Texas Rangers' lineup might be at stake.

Odor went 0-for-3 in Thursday night's 5-3 loss to the visiting Seattle Mariners and has gone hitless in his past 28 at-bats. That has dropped his batting average to .192, the lowest among qualified hitters in Major League Baseball. His .270 on-base percentage is also the majors' lowest.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward said he needs to see more out of Odor, who is signed for the next three seasons for a total of $37 million, if he's to be the Rangers' everyday second baseman.

"I have liked what I have seen the last couple of games, but he's obviously got to show some improvement," Woodward said. "The last couple of days have looked better, more consistent, but I need to see it every day. I need to see it every pitch."

And if Woodward doesn't see improvement?

"Then we have to make some decisions," Woodward said. "Just like everybody else, you've got to be productive in this game. We are willing to withstand some lack of production, but this is the big leagues. I hate to say it, but you've got to be good to play every day, and he knows. He has been frustrated by a lot of things. He's trying a lot of things."

Odor, a left-handed hitter, is also hitting less than .175 against right-handed pitchers, the lowest mark in Rangers franchise history. His swing-and-miss rate is a career-worst 30 percent.

"Honestly, he has a month left to show us that he can play on an everyday basis and he can handle the at-bat every single game," Woodward said. "You are not going to get hits every game, but you have to have good at-bat quality every single day."

Odor will try to snap his skid Friday against Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (14-10, 4.17 ERA), who has already surpassed his career-high in victories. Gonzales is 5-3 with a 3.25 ERA in nine career starts against the Rangers, including 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA in four starts this season.

The Rangers are set to counter with rookie left-hander Kolby Allard (2-0, 4.64 ERA), who will be making his fifth start since being acquired July 30 from Atlanta for reliever Chris Martin. Allard, a first-round pick of the Braves in 2015, will be facing the Mariners for the first time. In his last outing against the Chicago White Sox, Allard pitched six scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory and allowed six hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out eight.

The Mariners manufactured two runs in the ninth inning Thursday to break a tie. Dee Gordon led off with a single, stole second and, following a walk to Mallex Smith, both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by J.P. Crawford. Nola's sacrifice fly gave the Mariners the lead and they added an insurance run on a bloop single by Omar Narvaez.

"You have to understand game situations and execute them," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "It's what you've got to do."

--Field Level Media