Rougned Odor

Rougned Roberto Odor (born February 3, 1994), nicknamed "Rougie", is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and San Diego Padres.

Odor was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on February 3, 1994.

His first name is a combination of his grandfather's name, Douglas, and his grandmother's name, Nedia; in keeping with the family custom of giving boys names that begin with the letter "R", the "D" in Douglas was changed to an "R," yielding Rougned.

His father, also named Rougned, played college baseball for the University of New Orleans.

He played in the 2009 World Youth Baseball Championship.

He was named to the tournament's all-star team as a second baseman.

He was the youngest player in the American League, was 8th in the league in triples (7), and was 10th in caught stealing (7).

Odor played for Texas’s minor league affiliates from 2011 until he was called up to the MLB team in 2014.

The Rangers traded him to the Yankees in 2021 where he would be released following the season.

He was later signed by the Orioles for the 2022 season.

Odor signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2011, receiving a $425,000 signing bonus.

The Rangers aggressively assigned him to the Spokane Indians of the Low–A Northwest League.

He was the youngest player in the Northwest League, and had a .262 batting average on the season.

Odor was suspended for four games after starting a brawl during a game with the Vancouver Canadians.

In 2012, Odor batted .259 with the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–A South Atlantic League.

Odor began the 2013 season with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the High–A Carolina League, where he had a .303 batting average in 99 games played.

In August 2013, Odor was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double–A Texas League.

Odor's emergence with the Rangers allowed them to trade utility infielder Leury Garcia to the Chicago White Sox for all-star right fielder Alex Rios that month.

He finished the season with a .305 batting average with 41 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs, and 78 runs batted in in 130 games for Myrtle Beach and Frisco.

The Rangers named Odor their minor league player of the year.

The Rangers invited Odor to spring training in 2014.

He began the year with Frisco.

The Rangers promoted Odor to the major leagues on May 8, 2014.

On May 9, against Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, Odor hit a single for his first major league hit.

On May 12, against Houston Astros pitcher Brad Peacock, Odor hit his first major league home run.

He hit his first grand slam on August 27, in a 12–4 decision against the Seattle Mariners.

Odor was the youngest player in the MLB during his rookie season and helped the Rangers' second base problem even though they finished 67–95, the third-worst record in baseball that year.

Odor finished the year hitting a .259 batting average, 39 runs, 14 doubles, nine home runs, four stolen bases, and 48 RBIs in 386 at-bats over 110 games.

He has a sister and a younger brother, Rougned José Odor, who signed with the Texas Rangers organization on February 19, 2015.

His uncle, Rouglas, played for eight seasons in Minor League Baseball for the Cleveland and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, and is now a manager with the Akron RubberDucks.

Three of his uncles on his mother's side played baseball.

All three played for the Aguilas de Zulia in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, while Eduardo Zambrano also played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs.

Though raised in Maracaibo, he also visited his mother's family in the country during weekends.

He spent time around horses, and he enjoys toros coleados, a sport involving horses.

Odor began playing baseball at the age of two.

Odor began 2015 as the Rangers' starting second baseman, but he struggled mightily, hitting .144 with one home run, nine RBIs, and 25 strikeouts to go with seven walks in 29 games.

He was optioned to the Round Rock Express of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League on May 11.

However, upon his demotion, Odor found his stroke, beating up Triple-A pitching to a .352/.426/.639 slash with five home runs, 19 RBIs, and only 10 strikeouts to 12 walks in roughly the same number of appearances.

On June 15, following an injury to Delino DeShields Jr.., Odor was recalled to the Rangers, and in his return, promptly went 3-for-3 with two RBI against the Dodgers.