\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”thumbnail_url”:null,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”\”If I start crying or complaining or beating myself up for what happened, I’m not going to take full advantage of the moment that I have right now,” Rodríguez said. “So that’s exactly what I did today … just go out and do my \\[butt\\] off.\”\n\nRodríguez’s 162-point dip in slugging percentage, to .323 on Thursday, matched MLB’s seventh-largest drop from last year among 173 qualified hitters. For comparison, he was hitting .509 in 2022, when he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Thursday’s double was his first since June 9 and his second since May 12.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”“,”providerName”:”MLB”,”providerUrl”:null,”thumbnail_url”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/ar_121:168,c_fill,g_face/w_121/v1/people/677594/action/vertical/current”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:425,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”“We ask a lot of him,” Servais said. “And I just want him to be himself. He doesn’t have to carry the team. It’s OK to show emotion. It’s OK to get mad when you’re not playing a good game and stuff like that. That’s normal. And hopefully today will lighten things up for him.””,”type”:”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/julio-rodriguez-s-big-offensive-day-leads-mariners-in-win-over-orioles”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”SEATTLE — The joy with which he plays is what propelled his path to the Majors at just 21 years old, en route to becoming one of the game’s young faces. But amid what may be the worst stretch of his young career, perhaps a fiery”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”daniel-kramer”,”title”:”Daniel Kramer”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-136″,”title”:”Seattle Mariners”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:136″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”GameTag”,”gamePk”:745236,”slug”:”gamepk-745236″,”title”:”2024/07/04 bal@sea”,”type”:”game”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-677594″,”title”:”Julio Rodriguez”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:677594″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”game-recap”,”title”:”game recap”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”bat-flip”,”title”:”bat flip”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/v1720137525/mlb/cqx7bku3tkw0v529teyz”,”title”:”Julio Rodríguez’s big offensive day leads Mariners to win over Orioles”}},”Person:677594″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:677594},”Team:136″:{“__typename”:”Team”,”id”:136},”Person:641487″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:641487},”Person:641598″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:641598}}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”nl”} window.appId = ” /*–>*/
02:10 UTC
SEATTLE — The joy of playing is what propelled him to the majors at age 21, on his way to becoming one of the game’s young faces. But amid what may be the worst stretch of his young career, a fiery edge may be just what Julio Rodríguez needs.
Seattle’s wrestling star let his emotions flow in a thrilling 7-3 win over the Orioles on Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, leading to his best game of the year.
“Sometimes you have to go through difficult times to wake up,” Rodríguez said.
He put the Mariners on the board with a Statcast-predicted 428-foot solo home run while they trailed in the fifth inning. He then sparked their decisive five-run rally in the seventh inning with a leadoff double that pushed his batting average to 113 mph. It was by far his biggest hit of the season, homers included.
In between, Rodríguez cracked his right thumb catching a high fly ball in the sixth inning, painful enough to prompt Mariners manager Scott Servais and head coach Kyle Torgerson to take an extended visit to center field. Rodríguez shook his hand during the frame and was visibly frustrated after Torgerson retreated to the dugout.
“Of course you’re always afraid,” Rodríguez said of a possible injury. “But after I moved a little bit, [the pain] went away.”
But if it wasn’t the double that quelled concerns about the health of his thumb, it was his 18th steal of the year that followed right after, which he secured with a rare headfirst slide into third base. As he rose from the sand, Rodríguez shouted toward the home dugout all the way up the first-base line and clapped his hands together emphatically.
“It was infectious,” said J.P. Crawford, who later hit a go-ahead, bases-clearing double. “It definitely got me going. I think it got the whole team going. He fired everybody up.”
Rodríguez has shown this kind of emotion before, but in this difficult season it was alive.
“I just feel like a lot of people misunderstand my edge in the way I play the game,” Rodríguez said. “With fun, whatever. I feel like I just go out there and give it my all. I feel like that’s my style of play. And a lot of people might misunderstand, but sometimes you have to remind them.”
Thursday was only Rodríguez’s third game this year with multiple extra-base hits, joining April 17 against Cincinnati (two doubles) and May 12 against Oakland (when he doubled and homered). His lack of power has been well-documented, prompting an extended visit to this homestand with his personal hitting coach, Osvaldo Diaz, whom he has consulted since he was a prospect, and extensive early work.
Diaz was casually outlining what even casual observers have seen — that Rodríguez is off balance when making his “A” swing, which in turn has led to timing problems. Mechanically, Rodríguez has frequently tripped over himself at the plate in those moments. Mentally, he’s rekindled the urge to try to swing his way out.
Diaz, who was invited to Seattle this week by Mariners director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart, said he and Rodriguez are “trying to get more into his legs” because “there are too many moving parts.”
Thursday’s huge home run showed that Rodríguez may have found something, as it was probably his cleanest swing of the year. But he’s adamantly reluctant to talk about it, perhaps out of sensitivity given his early-season struggles or a protective incentive not to give away any secrets.
“If I start crying or complaining or beating myself up about what happened, I’m not going to take full advantage of the moment that I have right now,” Rodríguez said. “So that’s just what I did today … just go out and do my [butt] out.”
Rodríguez’s 162-point dip in slugging percentage, to .323 on Thursday, matched MLB’s seventh-largest drop from last year among 173 qualified hitters. For comparison, he was hitting .509 in 2022, when he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Thursday’s double was his first since June 9 and second since May 12.
“We ask a lot of him,” Servais said. “And I just want him to be himself. He doesn’t have to carry the team. It’s okay to show emotions. It’s okay to get angry when you don’t play a good game and things like that. That’s normal. And hopefully today will lighten things up a bit for him.”