Julio Rodriguez is Making a Change to His Approach in Month of July
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If you've read any of my articles, or listened to any of the Refuse to Lose podcast, you've heard me talk about Julio Rodriguez and his approach over and over and over again.
In my opinion, the biggest issue with Rodriguez this year, has been him getting himself out too often. That means chasing out of the zone, or swinging at pitches that he can't do damage to, especially when he doesn't have to swing at them.
Often times, this has correlated with him swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat, and his first-pitch swing percentage of 49.4 percent is well above the league average of 30 percent (per Baseball Savant).
However, we're starting to see a change in the month of July. As noted by Angie Mentink of ROOT Sports on Saturday's broadcast, Rodriguez has swung at the first pitch about half as often this month.
It was referenced by @AngieMentink on ROOT Sports, but Julio is clearly trying a new strategy of not swinging at the first pitch as much.
— Brady Farkas (@RefuseToLosePod) July 12, 2025
It does give you a chance to get down in the count more, and probably can raise the K percentage, BUT, it does limit your ability to get…
The new approach has started to pay dividends, as Rodriguez hit a home run off Tarik Skubal on Friday and then went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and a walk on Saturday. He took the first pitch of every at-bat on Saturday.
And look, I'm a proponent of swinging at the first pitch, as long as its a strike and something you can hit, but too often, Rodriguez has played right into the pitchers hands. How many times have you seen him swing at a slider off the plate or a fastball in on his fists? Pitchers have known they haven't needed to throw him a strike, and he's willingly obliged.
Taking a first-pitch strike could certainly lead to some worse counts, and to some more strikeouts, but if it negates you playing into the pitchers hands, then its worth trying.
By passing up that first pitch, Rodriguez started to get some more, and better pitches, later in at-bats.
So far, so good.
The Mariners (50-45) will play the Tigers at 10:40 a.m. PT on Sunday.
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