Julio Rodriguez Becomes Fastest Player in MLB History to 15 HR & 20 SB
Baseball fans were quite excited earlier this season when top prospect Julio Rodriguez made the Opening Day roster for the Seattle Mariners.
Now, 81 games later, J-Rod has already made MLB history for himself after a great performance against the San Diego Padres on Monday.
Rodriguez stepped up to the plate in the top of the fourth inning and obliterated a breaking pitch from Padres starter Sean Manaea for his 15th home run of the season, a 429-foot shot into left field.
With that home run, Rodriguez became the fastest player in MLB history with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in his career, doing it in just 81 career games.
He surpassed Barry Bonds, who accomplished the feat in 82 games, holding the previous record, and Ellis Burks, who did it in 90 career games.
ESPN statistician Sarah Langs tweeted out that Julio joined a group of just five players who hit 15 home runs and stole 20 bases in an 81-game span.
Among those players include Mike Trout and Ronald Acuna Jr. However, J-Rod is the only one of the five to have done that in the first 81 games of his career.
Rodriguez is far-and-away the best rookie offensively in baseball right now, leading all AL rookies in 11 different offensive categories, including home runs, RBI, fWAR, hits, wRC+ and stolen bases, just to name a few.
His statistics rival that of what Hall of Famer and Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. did to begin his MLB career.
To be mentioned amongst company such as Griffey Jr., one of the best all-around players in MLB history, is quite the accomplishment in itself.
Rodriguez is seemingly coasting toward a spot in the All-Star Game, which he rightfully deserves, and the AL Rookie of the Year as he comfortably holds on to the spot right now.
Seattle struggled coming out of the gate and after Monday's win, the Mariners sit at 39-42 on the year. Hopefully, they can continue to ride the success of Rodriguez and use it as momentum for the second half of the year.
