TODAY: Rodriguez’s testing came back clean, Servais told reporters (including Jude) this afternoon. Rodriguez isn’t in todays lineup but Servais nonetheless noted that Rodriguez will be fine and is “just a little sore” after the minor issues he’s dealt with in recent days.
July 6: Mariners youngster Julio Rodriguez exited this evening’s game against the Blue Jays in the first inning due to a quad injury. As noted by Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Rodriguez “felt something” in his lower right quad during pregame warm-ups and was pulled from the game before taking his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning. The severity of the issue is not currently known, but manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Jude) that Rodriguez is set to undergo an MRI exam later this evening. Rodriguez himself indicated to reporters (including Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) after the game that he “should be” okay despite the issue, but declined to comment further.
It’s not the first injury scare Rodriguez has had in recent days. Rodriguez fouled a ball off his knee during yesterday’s game against Toronto and was tended to by the team’s trainer after jamming his thumb while making a diving catch on Thursday. Given those recent bumps and bruises, it would have been understandable for the Mariners to decide on giving Rodriguez a day off, but the fact that he began the game in the lineup and exited before even taking an at-bat is surely worrisome for Mariners fans.
The 23-year-old phenom burst onto the scene with a dominant rookie campaign that earned him a top-10 finish in AL MVP voting, the AL Rookie of the Year award, and a massive contract extension back in 2022. He followed that performance up with a strong 2023 campaign where he started slow but started to heat up in the second half of the season, earning himself a fourth-place finish in AL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani, Corey Seager, and Marcus Semien. Overall, the youngster entered the 2024 season with an excellent .279/.338/.495 slash line for his career in the big leagues, made all the more impressive when combined with his strong defense in center field and his 62-for-79 record on the basepaths.
The 2024 season has been a difficult one for Rodriguez, however. While he got off to a slow start in 2024, he generally kept his overall slash line in the vicinity of league average throughout those struggles. One year ago today, the youngster was hitting .251/.312/.416 with a 104 wRC+. Even that performance would be a substantial improvement over the numbers Rodriguez has posted in his age-23 season. Through 89 games this season, Rodriguez has hit just .247/.295/.355 with a wRC+ of 85, 15% worse than league average. While his strong baserunning (18-for-20 on the bases) and defense at a premium position have helped to make up for that lack of production on offense, the 23-year-old has been closer to a quality regular than a perennial MVP candidate this year.
Now it seems possible that any attempt by Rodriguez to recreate his otherworldly second half from last year, when he slashed an incredible .321/.366/.615 in his final 61 games, could be put on hold if the youngster ends up requiring a trip to the IL. That would be a crushing development for a Mariners club that is holding onto a tenuous lead over the Astros, who are trailing Seattle by just two games, in the AL West. The club has won just five of its last 16 games thanks in part to an anemic offense that has slashed just .190/.273/.310 with a 72 wRC+ over that time, hitting better than only the lowly Marlins among all MLB clubs.
If the Mariners were to lose Rodriguez for a significant period, it would only serve to further escalate the pressure on the club to add offense in advance of the trade deadline at the end of the month. Multiple reports in recent weeks have indicated that the club plans to be aggressive in revamping its offense this summer, and that need would only become more pronounced if Rodriguez were to require a stay of any notable length on the injured list. Should the Mariners end up needing to explore options for help in center field, players such as White Sox star Luis Robert Jr. and Marlins youngster Jazz Chisholm Jr. figure to be available this summer, though players of that caliber with multiple years of team control typically come with a hefty price tag.
Who thinks I can’t finish this bottle of bourbon on my own tonight????? Any takers?
Well if you mix it with something
Normally a straight rocks guy but might be a good time to bust the Coke Zero out
Funny you should say that. I’m chasing my tequila with Coke Zero tonight in Sultan.
I am well acquainted with that feeling.
Let me tell you you are gonna need a lot more than just bourbon tonight
I’m on a tolerance break for my damn life insurance piss test
Hey how long do you gotta go without for that. I failed once already
I’m a unique case, I’ll go months without smoking and then weeks straight totally stoned. I have a rough job (not complaining, I’m thankful a proud of my lot in life) that takes a lot out of me. When I get time off I am a much calmer, less high strung, fulfilled version of myself around my family when stoned.
I always give it 30 days and check with a store bought kit. Always been clean after 30 days, but I’m a super active dude as well.
You got this!
It’s gonna be THE PERFECT night of drinking
“Plays the entrance theme, films self taking shots in slow motion”
I’m not going to bet against you
How many think I can drink down as many as two Root beer floats?????
Lee, I think you or I either one could do that.
Practice helps, of course.
Your not sharing?
jrod having a horrible season
wtf the happened to him?
He has a “personal hitting coach” that is getting the brunt of the blame around town these days.
I think back to that Castellanos interview earlier in the year, when he discussed how much better he is when he doesn’t try to overload his brain with every single factoid and scouting report stat you can think of. He said something along the lines of “I’m just a see ball hit ball type guy, and I need to embrace that.”
This is how I feel about the kid right now, just judging by his mechanics and body language. He is a freak of nature. He needs to get out there, stop thinking too hard relax and have some fun.
See da ball, hit da ball.
The Tony Perez philosophy of hitting.
He did all right as I recall.
I’ll bet you’ll eventually hit better. Peter Rose philosophy of hitting and life…banned for life as I recall.
I’ve seen Mariners fans say that he’s changed his swing and approach. The numbers seem to back it up. He’s pulling the ball far less (21.9% pull rate vs 27.5% and 29.7% in his first two years; MLB average is 29.9%) and hitting more ground balls and fewer fly balls. Plus the walks are down a tick and the Ks are up slightly. Just strange. One of the best hitters in the game as a rookie, presumably when he had fewer people tinkering with his swing. You might be right about his just simplifying things.
You’re on to something. Barrels are way down. K% and BB% are nowhere near ‘bad’ levels that you see with below average hitters. His launch angle is way down, well below league average. In 2022 he was at ~10, league average is ~12 and right now he’s at ~7. Most of the elite hitters you’d normally categorize him with are closer to 15-20 degrees.
I wonder if they tried to coach him to strike out less and hit more line drives, but instead they just completely flattened his swing so he can’t barrel breaking pitches and he’s hitting everything on the ground. He’s not having these issues with fastballs, and he’s never had issues with offspeed/breaking balls in the past so I doubt it’s a pitch identification issue or a timing issue.
So much red on that savant page, I’m not super worried about him as long as he isn’t hurt!
SODO, local M’s fan here. One thing that has bugged me since Julio came up is the feeding frenzy the M’s have had promoting him. Julio, Julio, Julio, all Julio, all the time. The kid is 23 years old. That’s a ton of pressure. We have Kirby, Gilbert, Cal, Castillo, JP and others. Spread the hype around. Those guys are really good also. Let Julio be human and not The Savior.
Nothing happened to him, he was just over rated, and over paid, waaay too soon.
@C Us Sink
Behold, yet another banal lamentation upon the ceaseless hyperbole bestowed upon burgeoning baseball talents by the media cognoscenti. Alas, these heralds of athletic prowess doth extol these aspirants as paragons of the diamond, only for reality to reveal them as mere parvenus of middling or marginally superior skill. Verily, there exists no dishonor in such competence, yet one must implore the press to temper their effusive proclamations.
Forsooth, these athletes, in their essence, are subject to the capricious vicissitudes of physical performance, not unlike the fallible pawns of a virtual realm. Let us dispel this illusion that they should manifest their zenith each fleeting morn; verisimilitude, not virtuosity, governs their corporeal exertions upon the field of play.
How loquacious. I dig Scrabble from time to time…
Here’s a translation:
Here’s another complaint about how the media exaggerates young baseball players’ talents. They praise them as stars, but in reality, they’re just average or slightly better. It’s okay to be good, but the media should calm down with their praise.
These players are human and their performance can vary a lot, like characters in a video game who aren’t perfect all the time. Let’s stop expecting them to be amazing every day. Reality, not just skill, affects how they play on the field.
You guys are great. My dads an English professor, right up my alley lol
(Don’t tell him about that lol)
Right, I think people forget sometimes these guys are human beings, not video game characters on The Show.
Not gonna lie. I’ve edited Julio on MLB The Show 24, to where he’s a 99, Diamond rating, mostly maxed out on each category. That probably explains my disappointment in reality perhaps, lol.
@This one belongs to the Reds
But, But! I play MLB The Show every day and Julio has a .465 BA. Why can’t he replicate that?
That 60 something contact vs righties kills ya
I like your screen name. Just be careful in the real alleys of Sodo…I enjoy the friendly back and forth here. Most of my friends like the NFL, not baseball.
You know, I am 35 and started going to the Kingdome at age 2. I’ve been to over 200 games in my life easy (I’m a flex member nowadays).
I just last week found out that SODO actually stands for “south of the dome.” I went my entire life thinking it was “south of downtown.”
I remember seeing games against the Milwaukee Brewers (when they were an AL team) in the Kingdome, probably when I was in junior high. There were absolutely no fans in attendance most of the time, and you could hear the players’ conversations on the field.
I’ve played Franchise mode on the series for years, and actually without cheating by saving, threw a no hitter with Castillo. Pretty cool.
Some difference. Could be construed either way.
@C Us Sink
I was at the Kingdome for the 1995 AL West tiebreaker game against the California Angels. I will never forget that game. Great atmosphere.
Lucky dude. That season was one for the ages, as Rick Rizzs said. To chase down the Angels like they did. What a season! Great memories. ” Branding iron hot…K! It’s started. The Kingdome erupts…and bedlam! ” as Niehaus said…
We need Rupert Jones back
Very bad take. Obviously a generational talent
Generational talents don’t struggle to hit close to the back of their baseball cards.
Not like Junior…
Is that right? Well I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it
Yep.
I agree. I don’t think Julio is on that no-doubt HOF level (yet) but I do think he’s pretty likely to be one of the 10-20 best players of the 2020s.
Probably agree with you there. I guess I’m just more old school, and think that these guys are fed WAY TOO MANY analytics. They’re thinking about WAY TOO MUCH while in the box. It drives me crazy. Just simplify, and shorten your swing a bit, and try to hit a hard liner somewhere.
You’re probably right there. I do think the analytics are extremely useful for maximizing a players physical abilities or trying to understand what’s going on under the hood. Swing mechanics, timing, and plate approaches are extremely dangerous to mess with.. I wonder if messing with Julio’s is what got Brant Brown fired.
Hanging out with Brett Boone too much?
Boonie was my favorite player for a couple years. I’ll never forget the disappointment I felt when he had the worst HR derby round of all time, at HOME in 2001. I was crushed.
Old Jack’s words applying to baseball as a whole this year.
If you have more MRIs than RBIs, you have a problem.
That’s McKeon, not Daniels.
It’s disheartening to hear about Julio Rodriguez’s ongoing struggles with injuries this season. After such a promising start to his career, seeing him battle through various physical setbacks is truly saddening. His contributions to the Mariners, both on the field and in the clubhouse, have been invaluable, and his presence will be sorely missed if he needs to spend significant time on the injured list.
Julio’s resilience in overcoming previous injuries and his determination to return to top form are qualities that make him a fan favorite and a cornerstone of the team’s future. The Mariners’ hopes for this season and beyond are deeply intertwined with his ability to stay healthy and productive.
Here’s hoping for a swift recovery and a return to the lineup soon. The Mariners and their fans are rooting for Julio to regain his health and continue making a positive impact on and off the field.
I hope he uses this time to completely reset and finish the season strong
Why did I draft him in my fantasy league
Watch Julio turn it on during the playoffs. That would certainly help this team make a deep playoff run this season!
Hah that’s if we get there in the first place with the astros behind us
When you are a mariners fan you are always extremely excited when they go to the playoffs because it might not happen again for a long time
Playoffs! What playoffs! Gonna have to win division and Houston coming on strong.
Yankees fans: if we don’t win the WS the season is a failure
Mariners fans: playoffs? I’ve never heard of that in my life
Hoping it’s nothing serious. I know he’s struggling a bit but he’s a very promising young player.
I listened to Servais’ post game interview with Divish and others, it didn’t sound like anyone was particularly worried. MRI is hopefully just out of abundance of caution
Servais never sounds particularly worried about anything, which I (personally) think is at least a part of the problem with this team. Hopefully you’re right the MRI is just a precaution.
At the least he’s currently in the Khris Davis .247 club. He can savor the experience being apart of such a club, however temporarily, if he hits the IL.
Khris Davis, or Chris Davis? Neither could hit…and I think Chris is still being paid by Orioles.
No sir. The O’s have been done with bonky knees since 2022. I thouight he was still being paid, too.
Is the glass half full or half empty to you? At the end of the day I guess I could settle for a 50 hr season in MLB but only begrudgingly.
Chris is the new Bobby Bonilla now, the payments just started this year!
Happy upcoming Chris Davis day to all!
Free agent hitters don’t want to sign/play in Seattle because their stats tank in T-Mobile park.
Most players still chase the money over location, that’s why we got Garv even though he has literally zero ties to the PNW
Hopefully it’s not serious and he can get back out there soon.
This spare parts lineup around Julio is completely unacceptable. I’m so freaking sick of this ownership group, front office, and coaching staff.
I’ve been a fan for a very long time, and can almost certainly narrow down the responsibility for underachieving to the ownership group. Spare parts you say, is spot on!
I agree this ownership group sucks it only cares about profit and lining its pockets
When I go to a game I don’t want to pay 100 dollars just to sit at the 200 level and drink $20 root beers
John Stanton sell the team! Bill gates Jeff bezos buy the team then we can 1 up the Mets!
I hope to god he does what he’s done for the past 2 years and go on a tear past the all star break, but this year feels different than the other 2
He wasn’t batting 7th swinging at everything inside his hands the past 2 julys
I would trade everyone except Julio, Cal, and Raley.
Gilbert and Kirby? Young, Emerson, Montes and Evans?
Even Jerry isn’t that proactive/wild (I think).
I think the Mariners have charter a fishing boat ⛴ have you ever seen so much swinging at those off the plate pitches? They need to think some place other than the batters box . Getting behind in the count 0-2 before they even swing at the ball is bad, they really need to work on pitch counts. Come on you guys quit making us look bad..
Its great for me. Can count on an OVER K bet for the Mariners opposing pitcher practically everyday! Its damn near a guarantee.
He’s no Gunnar Henderson
Not many are
This is perfect timing for the injury hopefully it will force Dipoto to have to trade for GOOD bats not one bat but 2-3 above average hitters…Get some deals done now before it’s too late even if you have to over pay a little this is our window and who knows when we will be in this position again since it’s been 23 years!
Julio has been very healthy in his short career. No IL time this year and one short IL visit in previous 2 yrs. His hustle, 17 infield hits, has helped kept him above the Mendoza Line. He is a good player but the hype in the Seattle area equates him as a “ Generational Talent “ Seems great at self promotion like his self congratulatory “No Fly Zone” forearms crossed move after a good catch. I do not see anyone else in the League doing such a bush move.
Big sigh of relief.
Yes. Big and Long sigh of relief. Yes, it has been frustrating watching him at the plate this season but he does do a lot of positive things for this team whether it is on the base paths or playing defense (I know we expect more more the $$$) and every time he comes up to the plate you hope that this is the at bat that gets him going because he does have that ability.
I am hoping they will make a trade for a couple of bats that put the ball in play more. Like Isaac Parades of the Rays and/or Ryan McMahon of the Rockies and attempt to get a reliever in the deal as well. I would not mind if the the M’s tried to get both as Parades has played first base quite a bit. Need two bats or MORE not just one….
Would they release Polanco if they made a trade for a Third basemen? I would hope so. Obviously Rojas can play 2B.
It has been frustrating but him being injured won’t help correct it. The Mariners do need some good contact hitters. Cut down on the strike outs and move the runners. Some power would be nice but they need contact. Maybe Polanco will go in a trade?
That would be nice if Polanco went in a trade but I cannot imagine he has any value with his numbers what they are this season and we would, I believe, have to pay the remaining salary owed to him for the rest of the year, which would be fine by me but perhaps not Mr. Stanton.
Fine by me too..but your right not our money.
Wondering how much the soreness and exiting the game was precautionary and how much of it was possibly a mental break? Maybe being out a day or two, and then just DHing might take some stress off? Odd to say as well, but am hoping he doesn’t get invited to the HR derby either. Just take those days to clear your mind, and sort of reset…
He probably won’t do HR derby. Typically players in all star game participate. Don’t see him getting a invite for game due to season. Time off should be good for him.
::thumbs up::