When Julio Rodríguez entered the major leagues in April 2022, the Seattle Mariners center fielder carried the type of sky-high expectations that are rare even for the most elite prospects.
Passan: Mariners embodied their vision in ‘biggest series of the year’
Rodríguez hasn’t reached that MVP-caliber superstar level yet, as frustrating stretches of inconsistency have overshadowed the flashes of greatness. But the 24-year-old Rodríguez just served another reminder that the narrative around some of his early-career struggles isn’t always the most rational.
Rodríguez hit his 20th home run of the season in Sunday’s win over the Texas Rangers, which made him the first player in MLB history with at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in each of his first four seasons.
It also was Rodríguez’s 100th career home run. That made him just the third player in MLB history with at least 100 homers and 100 steals over his first four seasons, joining Bobby Bonds (1968-71) and Darryl Strawberry (1983-86).
ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan placed Rodríguez’s milestone in perspective Monday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“I think it’s just a reminder that for all of the frustration that Julio has caused and can cause the fanbase, it’s worth remembering that this guy has been consistently much better than the average center fielder,” Passan said. “Now, because of the expectations that accompanied him when he arrived, ‘better than the average center fielder’ tends not to be the metric by which they want to measure things. … But that’s OK.
“He plays excellent defense at the third-most important position behind shortstop and catcher. He hits home runs. He steals bases. Does he have weaknesses? Yes. Can those weaknesses be overcome? Yes. Is he going to overcome them? To be determined. But in the meantime, I think focusing on the things he doesn’t do well is wrong.”
Rodríguez is batting .252 with a .743 OPS this season, which are both around middle of the pack in the American League. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Rodríguez is tied for 13th in the AL in home runs (20) and tied for sixth in steals (21). He has played exceptional defense, with his eight outs above average tied for fourth among AL outfielders, according to Baseball Savant. And his 4.5 bWAR ranks sixth among AL position players and second among AL outfielders, trailing only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge.
“Looking at who Julio is right now and what he brings gives you a sense that, hey, this is a real (good) player on a championship-caliber team,” Passan said. “… I’m just going to say, be appreciative of what you’ve got and not what you want.”
Listen to the full conversation with Jeff Passan at this link or in the audio player near the bottom of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Breakdown: Where Seattle Mariners’ playoff odds now stand
• Cal Raleigh’s ‘staggering’ season leads offensive surge by catchers
• Report: Seattle Mariners promote 2 highly touted prospects to Double-A
• There is a reason why new Mariners 1B Josh Naylor is always so intense
• Salk: This Mariners trade deadline is why they went through rebuild
