Julio Rodríguez (baseball)
Julio Yarnel Rodríguez (born December 29, 2000), nicknamed "J-Rod", is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). Rodríguez signed with the Mariners as an international free agent in 2017 and made his MLB debut in 2022.
| Julio Rodríguez | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners – No. 44 | ||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | ||||||||||||||
| Born: December 29, 2000 Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic | ||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | ||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | ||||||||||||||
| April 8, 2022, for the Seattle Mariners | ||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | ||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .284 | |||||||||||||
| Home runs | 28 | |||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 75 | |||||||||||||
| Stolen bases | 25 | |||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||||
Early life
Rodriguez was born in Loma de Cabrera, a town of roughly 20,000 people, in the Dominican Republic.[1][2]
Professional career
Minor leagues
Rodríguez signed with the Seattle Mariners at 16 years of age as an international free agent in July 2017 for a bonus of $1.75 million.[3][4][5] He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League Mariners in 2018,[6][7] playing primarily right field and batting .315/.404/.525 (7th in the league) with 50 runs, nine triples (tied for the league lead), five home runs, 36 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases without being caught in 219 at bats over 59 games.[8] He was over three years younger than the average player in both leagues.[9] He was named both a DSL mid-season All Star, and a Baseball America DSL All Star.[8]
Rodríguez started 2019 with the Class A West Virginia Power in the South Atlantic League.[10] He missed part of the season with a fractured left hand.[11][12] He was promoted to the Class A-Advanced Modesto Nuts in the California League in August, becoming one of only three 18-year-olds in all of minor league baseball to play High-A ball in 2019.[3][13] Over 328 at bats in 84 games between the two teams playing right field and center field, he slashed .326/.390/.540 with 63 runs, 26 doubles, 12 home runs and 69 RBIs, and was 10th in the South Atlantic League with a .490 slugging percentage.[14][8][15] He was named a California League Player of the Week on September 2, and an MiLB Organization All Star.[8] In September of 2019, he was the Mariners' No. 2 prospect, and the No. 25 prospect in baseball.[5][12]
Rodríguez played in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas following the regular season, at 18 the youngest player in the AFL, and batted .288/.397/.365 in 52 at bats.[16][17][12] He was named an AFL Rising Star.[8]
In June 2021, Rodriguez started play with the Everett AquaSox. After a few months he was promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. Rodríguez was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game.[18] In August 2021, he was ranked No. 1 on the Mariners prospect list and No. 2 on the MLB top 100 prospect list.[19] The Mariners added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2021 season.[20]
Seattle Mariners
Rodríguez made his major league debut on Opening Day, April 8, 2022,[21] as the starting center fielder versus the Minnesota Twins.[22] After starting the season 1-for-21 with 12 strikeouts, Rodríguez took off.[23] On May 1, Rodríguez hit his first career home run, a three-run shot off of Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara.[24] He was named American League (AL) Rookie of the Month consecutively for May and June, 2022. In June, he played 29 games, scored 22 runs, and hit .280/.361/.542 with seven home runs, 16 RBI, and five stolen bases.[25]
Rodríguez kept up his great performance in July, during the stretch the Mariners won 14 consecutive games to jump into playoff discussions. On July 15th, he hit his first career grand slam to put a game vs the Texas Rangers out of reach. In July, he played 19 games, scored 12 runs, and hit .267/.337/.547 with five home runs, 18 RBI, and two stolen bases.[1] He however did not win rookie of the month in July with the award going to Jose Miranda who put up superior numbers.[26]
Rodríguez was selected to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game roster, making him the sixth Mariner rookie to do so.[27] Rodríguez also participated in the Home Run Derby, where he hit 81 home runs across three rounds, and placed second behind Juan Soto.[28]
During a game on August 23 against the Washington Nationals, Rodríguez hit his 20th home run of the 2022 season, making him the sixth player in Seattle Mariners history to join the 20–20 club, and the fourth player in MLB history to do so in their first MLB season.[29] On September 14, he became the first player to join the 25–25 club in his debut season.[30]
On August 26, 2022, Rodríguez signed a 14-year contract extension worth up to $400 million with the Mariners.[31]
In 2022 he batted .284/.345/.509 (8th in the AL) with 84 runs, 28 home runs, 75 RBIs, 25 steals (5th), and 140 strikeouts in 511 at-bats, with a 26.4 Power-Speed # (2nd), while leading the AL outfielders in both range factor/9innings (2.88) and errors (6).[32] At 21 years of age, he was the youngest qualified batter in major league baseball.[33]
On November 10, 2022, he was selected as one of the three AL outfielders to win the Silver Slugger Award, his first time receiving the award (as it was his rookie season). He became just the 4th rookie outfielder to ever win the award, joining Ichiro Suzuki (2001), Mike Trout (2012) and Aaron Judge (2017).[34].
On November 14, 2022, he was selected as the AL Rookie of the Year, becoming the 5th Mariner to win the award, joining Alvin Davis (1984), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000), Ichiro Suzuki (2001), and Kyle Lewis (2020).[35]
Personal life
Rodríguez is currently dating OL Reign Canadian professional soccer player Jordyn Huitema.[36]
In January 2023, Rodríguez donated an Ambulance to his hometown's civil defense headquarters. Prior to his donation, the town did not have an ambulance for emergency. He also gifted baseball equipment and other toys to the children in his hometown.[37]
Awards and accolades
- Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Rookie (2022)
- Silver Slugger Award (AL Outfielder, 2022)
- Rookie of the Year Award (AL Outfielder, 2022)
- All-MLB Second Team (AL Outfielder, 2022)
See also
References
- ^ a b "Julio Rodriguez Player Card". The Baseball Cube. December 29, 2000. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ Trupin, John (January 30, 2019). "Julio Rodriguez says he's not done learning". Lookout Landing. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ a b "Julio Rodríguez is one of the game's best prospects—and it's clear why". Marinersblog.mlblogs.com. December 10, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ Preusser, Kate. "Julio Rodriguez wants to 'break baseball'". The Athletic.
- ^ a b Glaser, Kyle (September 4, 2019). "'He's A Monster': Julio Rodriguez Has The Attention Of Scouts, Fellow Players". Baseballamerica.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ Cotterill, T. J. "Julio Rodriguez Has That 'It' Factor". www.baseballamerica.com.
- ^ "Rodriguez, 17, impresses Mariners on, off field". MLB.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Julio Rodriguez Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ R.J. Anderson (September 27, 2019). "Seattle Mariners top prospect list 2020: Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez give the M's a pair of stud outfielders". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ Redd, Derek. "West Virginia Power outfielder Julio Rodriguez happy to be back on the diamond". Charleston Gazette-Mail.
- ^ "Prized M's prospect Rodriguez out with fractured hand". HeraldNet.com. April 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c Johns, Greg (October 19, 2019). "Mariners shut down prospect Julio Rodriguez". MLB.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ Glaser, Kyle. "'He's A Monster': Julio Rodriguez Has The Attention Of Scouts, Fellow Players". www.baseballamerica.com.
- ^ Stone, Larry. "Larry Stone Column: Prospect Julio Rodriguez's talent, charisma can make a believer out of even cynical Mariner fans". Yakima Herald-Republic.
- ^ "2019 South Atlantic League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ "Arizona Fall League rosters revealed". MLB.com.
- ^ "Julio Rodriguez Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ "Futures Game rosters are STACKED". MLB.com.
- ^ "Top 100 Prospects list". MLB.com. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
- ^ "Mariners shield J-Rod with 40-man roster call". MLB.com.
- ^ "Julio Rodríguez stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ "Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins box score". Baseball-Reference.com. April 8, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ Gonzalez, Alden. "How rookie Julio Rodriguez became the Seattle Mariners' $470 million man". ESPN. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "'Let's go': J-Rod's 450-foot HR powers Mariners". mlb.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Harrigan, Thomas (July 2, 2022). "J-Rod, Harris recognized as June's Rookies of the Month". MLB.com. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
- ^ "July top rookie honors go to Miranda, Strider". MLB.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ "Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez named to AL All-Star team at 21 years old". July 10, 2022.
- ^ "Mariners rookie sensation Julio Rodríguez to participate in Home Run Derby".
- ^ "Julio mashes way to Seattle's 10th 20-20 season". MLB.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
- ^ "J-Rod is 1st with 25 HRs, 25 steals in debut season". MLB.com. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ "Sources: M's, J-Rod extension could top $400M". ESPN.com. August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ "Julio Rodriguez Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Major League Leaderboards » 2022 » Batters » Statcast | FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
- ^ "Mariners star Rodriguez becomes fourth rookie outfielder to win Silver Slugger".
- ^ "J-Rod tops debut season with AL ROY Award".
- ^ "𝘑𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘠𝘕 𝘏𝘜𝘐𝘛𝘌𝘔𝘈 on Instagram: "Seattle has been good this year :))"". Instagram. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "J-Rod gifts toys, baseball items, ambulance(!) to hometown". MLB.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)