Relationship Between Edgar Martinez, Julio Rodriguez Could Yield Results in 2025
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There might not be a bigger key for success for the Seattle Mariners in 2025 than franchise star Julio Rodriguez.
The Mariners had arguably the best starting pitching rotation in baseball, but the team still missed the playoffs by one game, in large part due to the offense's struggles.
Rodriguez had a bad season that coincided with the rest of Seattle's misfortunes. He missed almost three weeks with a right high-ankle sprain and was held out of the outfield for a month with the same injury. Rodriguez was having a down season before he landed on the injured list. But he turned it around in the last six weeks of the season under the then-newly hired hitting coach Edgar Martinez.
Over the last 34 games of the year under Martinez, Rodriguez hit .313 with nine home runs, 30 RBIs and six steals.
JULIO RODRIGUEZ GO-AHEAD HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/Edi5pC6XUX
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 14, 2024
Martinez will remain on the team in 2025 as the senior director of hitting strategy. And there's reason to hope that, with Martinez still with the franchise, Rodriguez can avoid the slow starts that have plagued his career so far.
In an article published by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Rodriguez talked about the last several weeks of the season and wanting to continue to that performance in 2025:
“Those last weeks of the season were really productive for me in a lot of for many different ways,” Rodriguez said. “I want to keep building on to that because I feel like that’s the type of player that I see myself as. You obviously want to improve, but I think that player is pretty good.”
Mariners manager Dan Wilson also mentioned noticing the change in Rodriguez in his hitting approach:
“I don’t know if I can remember a specific date or time, but I do remember seeing a lot of balls go to right field, on a line and hit hard,” Wilson said. “That’s when you knew. He was beginning to use the whole field. When it comes off his bat, he’s going to be able to go out of the ballpark in any part of the ballpark.”
Many national media members have mentioned Rodriguez as a dark horse candidate for American League MVP in 2025. And if his last six weeks of the season are an indication of what's in store for 2025, those predictions could prove correct.
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