At the end of the day, a win is a win and that is something that the San Diego Padres of last season became well-acquainted with. As team manager Bob Melvin brought up earlier this week, they won plenty of walk-off games in 2022 and always made sure to perform in the clutch.
Seeing that they hold a 23-27 record as of now, that hasn't necessarily been the case this season but Rougned Odor was able to hopefully get them back on track with a Thursday win over the Washington Nationals along with just the second series victory of the month of May.
It was quite the wild ride off the jump for San Diego as Ha-Seong Kim went down with a knee injury in just the second inning. The Friars found themselves down 5-6 heading into the ninth but Odor stepped up to plate and connected on a three-run homer that also brought in Jake Cronenworth and Juan Soto.
Many other players in the MLB. would've felt the pressure with two outs already recorded a whole lot of losing from their squad in the past couple of weeks. However, these are the types of moments that Odor lives for.
The 29-year-old has his most successful years with the Rangers and then went on to have stints with the Yankees and Orioles before joining San Diego. He believes that it is his duty to pick up the slack when the stars are not shining.
“Somebody’s got to start it,” said Odor. “That guy is me. And now we go. It means a lot. We’ve got plenty of games, and we believe in each other. We will believe in everybody in this clubhouse, and we’re ready to go.”
(Via The San Diego-Union Tribune)
Odor has indeed been starting the energy as of late and we've seen it from a number of players that are not on massive contracts as well. Kim before his injury was driving in big runs along with Matt Carpenter.
If San Diego wants to get back on track with their preseason expectations, they need to come together as a group.
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