Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez is putting up his best numbers through this point in the season than he has the previous four years of his career.
The Seattle Mariners began a four-game series against their arch American League West rivals, the Houston Astros, strongly on Monday at Daikin Park in Houston.
The Mariners won 3-1 and improved to 20-22 on the season in the process. The win also moved them two games behind the Athletics for first place in the American League West and also gave them possession of the second wild card spot in the American League, though we acknowledge it's too early to worry about such things.
The win also continued what has been the best first half in the career of three-time All-Star Julio Rodriguez.
Rodriguez finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Both his run and his RBI came via a solo home run in the top of the third, which gave the M's their third and final run. Rodriguez also had a home run go just foul in the top of the first inning.
Since making his major league debut in 2022, Rodriguez has been plagued with slow starts in the first half of seasons.
His slow starts have always preceded dominant second halves of the year, with the All-Star game and the month of July usually marking the unofficial "turning point" for the 25-year-old.
Rodriguez's near-trademark "slow first-half" hasn't been present this year.
Following his 2-for-4 night against the Astros on Monday, Rodriguez is slashing .277/.341/.452 with a .793 OPS across 42 games. He's hit eight doubles and seven homers with 19 RBIs and has stolen three bases in five opportunities. He's also posted a 128 wRC+ (weighted runs created-plus). The league average for wRC+ is 100.
For reference, Rodriguez's slash line and wRC+ through May 11 of each of his past four seasons has been (per Just Baseball):
2022: .254/.314/.342; 94 wRC+
2023: .205/.270/.384; 84 wRC+
2024: .247/.300/.291; 78 wRC+
2025: .228/.318/.392; 106 wRC+
Rodriguez became the de facto face of the franchise before the end of his rookie season when the front office awarded him with a 12-year, $209.3 million contract that will likely keep him in the Pacific Northwest through the 2034 season (assuming the team exercises the five-year club option in the offseason before 2030).
Rodriguez is already considered the best center fielder in baseball by most analysts and publications and has been mentioned as a "dark horse" to win MVP almost every year since his rookie season.
If Rodriguez is able to still have his typical uptick in his production in the second half to pair with this first half, he could legitimately find himself in MVP conversations by the end of the year.
The Mariners and Astros will play again on Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. PT. Bryan Woo will take the mound.
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