ESPN MLB Insider Provides Reason For Optimism with Regards to Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez
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The Seattle Mariners lost 8-4 to the Miami Marlins on Friday night in a tough one at T-Mobile Park.
Not only did the M's lose the game thanks to allowing six unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning, they also lost ace pitcher Logan Gilbert to the always-concerning "right forearm tightness."
Julio Rodriguez continued to struggle to produce results offensively, going 0-for-3 with a walk. He's hitting just .196 with three homers through the first 26 games of the season.
Despite the low counting numbers, Rodriguez still performs well in several metrics, including exit velocity, suggesting that he's still a good hitter. Furthermore, he's running a .239 BABIP, suggesting that he's also been the victim of some bad luck.
In addition to that, ESPN's Buster Olney provided an additional reason for optimism on a recent "Refuse to Lose" podcast episode:
Question: Is Julio Rodriguez a great player, or a very good player that is extremely streaky?
Answer: I think he's an excellent player. Do I think that he's as good a hitter as Juan Soto? No. Do I think he's in the class of Aaron Judge as an overall hitter? No, but I think he's a really great player. And there will be stretches during the course of the year when he will carry them, and I would say that, you know, I have not spoken Edgar Martinez or Kevin Seitzer, so I can't give you insight into exactly what he's working on, but the number that would give me hope if I'm the Mariners is the fact that his walk rate is up. I think that's always a good sign that he's seeing pitches and he seems to be taking his walks and commanding the strike zone. That's a big deal. Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres is off to a great start this year because he's commanding the strike zone. Good things happen once you do that.
Rodriguez already has 14 walks this season in 119 plate appearances vs. 38 walks in 613 a season ago.
He's a career .273 hitter, is a two-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger.
You can listen to the full interview with Olney below:
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NEW PODCAST IS OUT! Brady is back for another episode of "Refuse to Lose," talking about the series win in Boston, a milestone for Julio Rodriguez, the offensive resurgence and much more, including Dylan Moore's new approach at the plate. Curtis Rogers, the pre and postgame show host on Seattle Sports 710 stops by. CLICK HERE:
RANDY's ROLLIN: Randy Arozarena, who got his first off day of the season on Friday, has accomplished some personal history over the first month of the season. CLICK HERE:
WS BOUND? Buster Olney of ESPN certainly had fans excited when he mentioned Mariners and World Series in the same sentence. CLICK HERE:
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