The Seattle Mariners are 51-50, having a more difficult time than they probably imagined after winning a postseason series last year and reaching the AL Division Series.
The Texas Rangers are now great, the Astros remain top-notch, and even the Los Angeles Angels are competing in the AL West.
As you can see, competition is fierce, but the M’s continue to fight for the right to make the playoffs again.
To do that, they need the best version of Julio Rodriguez they can get.
This year, J-Rod hasn’t been nearly as productive as he was in his rookie year.
He came into Wednesday’s afternoon game against the Minnesota Twins hitting a rather disappointing .246/.312/.413 with 16 home runs, 23 stolen bases, and a 105 wRC+ (just five percent above the league-average offensive production).
For reference, his wRC+ last year was a much better 146.
We are yet to see Rodriguez’s best, and that “best” might be arriving at the most opportune time.
He went yard in his first at-bat against Joe Ryan of the Twins, his 17th round-tripper of the 2023 campaign.
According to FOX Sports: MLB, it left his bat at 108.7 mph.
108.7 mph off the bat from Julio! ☄️
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/hun9D0VVIs
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 26, 2023
It’s his fourth home run in his last seven games, a span in which he is hitting .296/.367/.778 with six runs and five RBI.
If Rodriguez can extend that kind of performance to most of the stretch run, Seattle will definitely start winning more games.
They might be a bit far in the Wild Card standings at the moment, but there are more than two months of baseball left to play and they might still have a chance.
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