Julio Rodriguez Named Best CF in Baseball By Prominent ESPN Insider
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The Seattle Mariners offense will be one of the most scrutinized units in the league in 2025.
Last season, the Mariners boasted what was arguably the best rotation in the sport. But the club still missed the postseason by one game, in large part due to the offense's misfortunes. The lineup led the league in strikeouts (1,625) and was on pace to set the all-time MLB record in that category at several different points.
Whether or not Seattle makes it back to the playoffs in 2025 will depend on how the offense bounces back from last season. And the team's franchise star will be at the forefront of that.
Julio Rodriguez has been plagued with slow starts for the first three seasons of his major league career. However, entering 2025, many media members and analysts have mentioned Rodriguez as a potential dark horse candidate for American League MVP.
MLB Network echoed that praise and named him the best center fielder in the game in their Top 10 Right Now series. And Rodriguez received more praise from an ESPN insider.
Rodriguez was ranked as the best center fielder in the game in a recent article written by Buster Olney.
Olney had the following assessment of Rodriguez in his article:
A lot of young hitters tend to fare better against right-handed pitchers than lefties, because that's what they've mostly seen in their formative years. But the 24-year-old Rodriguez is already at dead-even splits: Last year, he had a .733 OPS vs. righties, .735 vs. lefties.
Rodriguez hit .273 with 20 home runs, 68 RBIs and 24 steals in 2024. He and Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto have acknowledged his slow starts. But he's been getting significant reps so far in spring training, presumably in hopes of getting him going earlier.
Julio Rodríguez scorches a 112.4 MPH double into the gap to score two 😳 #SpringTraining pic.twitter.com/Y7642CJkJs
— MLB (@MLB) February 25, 2025
Rodriguez has already been an All-Star caliber player in his career. If he takes the next step, then the team has a good chance to go far in 2025.
And we remind you, that Olney joins the "Refuse to Lose" podcast each Thursday!
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