The Seattle Mariners are going for it, as evidenced by their commerce with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Josh Naylor. However the largest enchancment for the Mariners goes to have to come back from inside. Star middle fielder Julio Rodriguez hasn’t fairly been at his greatest in 2025. Even then, Rodriguez has remained an image of consistency. On Wednesday night time, he hit his fifteenth dwelling run of the season and stole his twentieth base in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
In so doing, Rodriguez made historical past. In line with Mariners PR on X (previously Twitter), Rodriguez grew to become the primary participant not simply in franchise historical past, however in all of MLB, to document no less than 15 dwelling runs and 20 stolen bases for the primary 4 years of 1’s profession — an impressive feat.
Whereas 15 dwelling runs and 20 stolen bases aren’t precisely numbers that might catch anybody’s eye, it is a testomony to Rodriguez’s capacity to be a persistently productive participant whereas enjoying an up-the-middle place that he is capable of produce this feat.
He is performed in 132, 155, and 143 video games in his first three seasons, proving he has unimaginable sturdiness. And up to now in 2025, he is solely missed one sport — a Might 22 contest in opposition to the Houston Astros that he was absent for as a result of again tightness that clearly wasn’t very critical, as he hasn’t missed a sport since.
Rodriguez, in fact, would need to be extra productive for the Mariners in 2025 than he has been up to now. He is presently slashing simply .254/.315/.416 on the 12 months, which might be a personal-worst in all triple-slash classes. A few of it has been as a result of poor batted-ball luck, however a few of it has been as a result of poor high quality of contact as nicely.
At the least, Rodriguez is exhibiting indicators of life in July, as he is posted a .770 OPS up to now on the month. The Mariners will want him to be higher, nonetheless, in the event that they have been to ascertain themselves as a playoff workforce.
Julio Rodriguez seeking to return to celebrity standing for the Mariners
Rodriguez burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie all the best way again in 2022, slashing .284/.345/.509 and firmly establishing himself because the league’s biggest younger superstars. Rodriguez’s manufacturing dipped on a per-game foundation in 2023, however he performed in almost all the 162 video games and remained very constant, ending top-four in MVP voting within the course of.
Nonetheless, the Mariners star hasn’t been fairly at his greatest on the plate since. For the reason that begin of the 2024 season, Rodriguez has posted an OPS of .734 — a far-cry from the place he as soon as was. However he is solely 24 years of age, so he has loads of time to determine it out.