While it's been a generally difficult season for Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez on the field, it was made a little better on Monday morning as Rodriguez was named the Mariners' nomination for the prestigious "Roberto Clemente Award."

The award is similar to the "Walter Payton Man of the Year" award in the NFL and highlights players who "best represent baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, on and off the field."

Mariners fans can see the full Rodriguez bio and vote for him to win here, but his off field accomplishments are quite extensive. Voting ends on Sept. 27, the final day of the regular season.

The following is just a portion of his resume:

"In its first full year (2025), the No Limits Foundation supported more than 5,000 children in Loma de Cabrera through meal and toy distributions, baseball equipment donations, hygiene services, youth sports clinics and local health initiatives. The foundation also rebuilt the town’s Community Center, which serves the area’s 20,000-plus residents. Many of these efforts were driven by Julio’s annual Three Kings Day celebration on Jan. 6, which creates safe spaces for youth, provides essential resources and inspires the next generation of athletes.

In fall 2025, Julio’s No Limits Foundation made its most significant investment in the community yet. In partnership with the Green Hope Foundation and sponsors, the foundation began a four-months-long, state-of-the-art renovation to a baseball, softball and soccer complex in Loma de Cabrera, the same field that Julio played on growing up that inspired him to become the elite MLB player he is today. Julio personally pledged $600,000 to the renovation and received grants from the MLBPA's Youth Development Foundation and Mariners Care Foundation to fund the $1.2 million project, resulting in the country’s first-ever public AstroTurf baseball field."

A five-year veteran, Rodriguez is a foundational piece of the Mariners who has played an integral role in getting them to the playoffs in both 2022 and 2025.

The Rookie of the Year winner for the American League in 2022, Rodriguez also has three Top-10 MVP finishes to his name. He's also a three-time All-Star.

This year, things have been rougher for Rodriguez, who is hitting just .242 with 21 homers, 65 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. The counting numbers are fine, but they aren't indicative of the MVP-caliber player he's expected to be. 

Still just 25 years old, he has an OPS+ of 101. 

If the Mariners are going to have a better season in 2027, they'll need Rodriguez to get back to his pre-2026 numbers. We spoke a few weeks ago with ESPN researcher Paul Hembekides about how he can do that.

His defense has also regressed this season despite his history of being one of the best outfielders in the sport.

At 70-80, the Mariners are five games back in the American League West with 12 games to play. They'll start a new series with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night at 6:38 p.m. PT. Our own Teren Kowatsch will be live in Anaheim with the coverage.

Kade Anderson is pitching against Reid Detmers.

A new 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is set for release on Tuesday morning. You can keep up with all episodes here.