Texas Rangers Who’s Hot? Who’s Not? Week 17

Welcome to our weekly series where we’ll take a look at a few Rangers who are on heaters and more who are ice cold in something we’ll call “Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?”

The last week of Rangers baseball hasn’t been a good one. They’re 1-5 since the all-star break and have allowed an average of 9.8 runs per game in those six games — and that includes a 5-0 shutout in their only win since the break. Oh, and the last two games have seen them blow a 10-2 lead and another lead in the ninth inning on consecutive nights. Fun times in Ranger land.

Who’s Hot?

Rougned Odor — Look, of all the crap coming out of Arlington this past week, there’s at least one bright, shining beacon of hope. Has Rougned Odor figured out his woes and changed his approach enough to not be the worst player in baseball and actually be an above replacement level player? It appears so, as of late. Really going back to June 1, he's been good, but the last week has been red-hot. He’s 11-for-24 in his last six games and has a slash line of .458/.481/.667 with two doubles, a homer and even a couple of walks. He also has four stolen bases in that time, showing he might finally be turning into a force on the bases. Don’t get too excited yet, but we might have our Stinky back.

Elvis Andrus — After a long funk following his broken arm early in the year, Andrus is in a good way right now. In his last six games, he’s sporting a .364/.400/.682 slash with two home runs (!!!) and a team-high seven RBIs in that stretch. He also has a pair of stolen bases.

Yovani Gallardo — Boy, talk about a shot in the dark. The Rangers took one by calling up their one-time ace, and the results have been much better than they could have ever hoped. Gallardo’s last start was a gem, as he worked six insanely efficient, scoreless innings, allowing just three hits in the Rangers’ lone win since the break.

Who’s Not?

Cole Hamels — Numbers-wise, there are worse pitchers going for the Rangers right now, but as far as expectations, hope and poor timing, nothing is worse than what Hamels is doing right now. Leading up to the trade deadline, Hollywood is making it very likely that no one wants to give the Rangers anything at all of substance in return for the veteran lefty, and that’s a kick in the pants. In his last start, he allowed seven runs on nine hits in just five innings, including two home runs to continue his long-ball woes this year. Look, I’m an unabashed Cole Hamels homer, but he’s been pretty bad all season, and he’s been dreadful over the last month — at the worst possible time.

Shin-Soo Choo — After his 52-game on-base streak ended on Saturday, Choo has been in a funk. In six games, he’s just 3-for-22 with an RBI. In non-Choo fashion, he also has eight strikeouts to just four walks. He might need a day off soon after being the center of attention on the Rangers for the better part of two months.