Jason Kipnis wants no part of Rougned Odor after hard slide

No matter how well he plays this season, it will be tough for Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor to shake his reputation as the guy who punched Jose Bautista in the face. For all we know, Odor could be the nicest guy in the world. On the field, however, he’s now a dude you don’t want to mess with.

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Need proof of that? Look no farther than Thursday’s game against the Cleveland Indians. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Odor attempted to advance from first on a double-play ball off the bat of Jonathan Lucroy.

As he neared second, Odor slid into second baseman Jason Kipnis, knocking him off his balance. Kipnis was able to complete the play, but the whole thing seemed similar to the start of the Bautista/Odor incident. This time, Odor was the one performing the takeout slide.

Any chance of a repeat brawl was quickly dashed. Almost immediately after the slide, Kipnis taps Odor on the shoulder and then pretends to back away cautiously, as if to say “please don’t give me the Bautista treatment.”

Eventually, Kipnis starts laughing and heads toward the dugout. Odor also cracks a smile after realizing Kipnis is giving him a hard time.

The best part of the whole exchange, however, happened in the dugout. Both Adrian Beltre and Nomar Mazara erupted with laughter upon seeing Kipnis’ reaction after the slide. It’s not unusual to see Beltre have a good time on a baseball field, but Mazara is known for being calm and level-headed in every situation. There’s a reason he’s nicknamed “The Big Chill.”

While Odor’s slide wasn’t particularly egregious, we’re happy to see cooler heads prevail here. Credit to Kipnis for having a sense of humor about the whole thing. Even the Rangers thought it was funny.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik