Jerry Dipoto expressed his belief that this year is the most complete Rodriguez has been as a player

SEATTLE — For the first time in 24 years, the Seattle Mariners will host a playoff game to begin the postseason.

The Mariners ended the regular season 90-72 and will go into the American League bracket of the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. They will host the winner of the wild card series between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers at a to-be-determined time Oct. 4.

Before the final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 28, Seattle president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke to the media. Among the several topics discussed was the season had by three-time All-Star center fielder Julio Rodriguez.

The fourth-year outfielder was instrumental in guiding the Mariners to their first American League West title since 2001.

Rodriguez scored 106 runs in 160 games this year and hit 31 doubles, four triples and 32 home runs with 95 RBIs. He slashed .267/.324/.474 with a .798 OPS. He stole 30 bases in 36 opportunities. His homers tied a career-high and his games played (160) were the most in his career. His steals, RBIs and OPS were the second-most in a single season in his career.

In addition to his hitting and his base-running, Rodriguez's defense has also been elite. He finished the year with nine defensive runs saved (DRS), which was second in the American League among center fielders who played at least 100 games. The only player in the AL with more DRS than Rodriguez was Cedanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox (21). Rodriguez had 10 outs above average, which ranked in the 97th percentile of baseball, according to Baseball Savant.

With all those factors in place, Dipoto expressed his belief that this current version of Rodriguez is the most complete player he's been.

"I think he should win a Gold Glove. If he doesn't, it's a crime," Dipoto said Sunday. "As this season has progressed, Julio went from being an electric, if inconsistent, base-runner to being a more intent, thoughtful base-runner who can impact the game in a lot of different ways. His power has always been there, now I think it's manifesting in way he's getting the ball airborne a lot more. And I think it's an intentional thing. ... I do think what we watched from July to the end of the year was the last step of him evolving into one of the most complete players in the game."

In Rodriguez's career, he's been plagued with slow starts in the first half of the season before heating up in the second half.

That was the case again this year, but there was a pivotal point in the season where Rodriguez committed to turning his season around.

"I'll go back to the maturity that he showed when he, what I think, politely declined to go to the All-Star Game because he knew he needed to focus on getting his own game right," Dipoto said. "And when he did that, I thought it was a big moment for him. He's 24-years-old.

"... I think Julio is regarded as a superstar outside the Seattle market. And here in our market we expect so much more out of him. ... In reality, all it took was the mental release to say 'I'm not right and I need to get right.' And then, literally that day (he decided not to go), he just started raking and he's been one of the best players in baseball since then."

Before the All-Star game, Rodriguez had scored 63 times in 95 games and hit 17 doubles, three triples and 14 homers with 50 RBIs and stole 17 bases in 21 attempts. He slashed .252/.313/.417 with a .731 OPS.

After the All-Star Break, Rodriguez scored 43 runs in 65 games and hit 14 doubles, a triple and 18 home runs with 45 RBIs and was 13-for-15 in steal attempts. He slashed .290/.341/.560 with a .900 OPS.

"I feel like I was able to settle in better into my own game and play to my strengths," Rodriguez said in a postgame interview Sunday. "When it comes to hitting, I'm a very diverse hitter. A lot of people might feel like, because I can hit the ball out of the park 400-and-whatever feet, they feel like I should be doing that all the time. ... I can hit pretty much every single way. I've been really comfortable."

Game 1 of the ALDS will be the first home playoff game for Rodriguez and the Mariners since a 1-0, 18-inning loss in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS against the Houston Astros on Oct. 15, 2022.

RELATED MARINERS STORIES

MARINERS CLOSE OUT SEASON WITH 6-1 LOSS AGAINST DODGERS: The Dodgers prevailed over the Mariners in the final regular season start of Clayton Kershaw's career. CLICK HERE

MARINERS RECALL UTILITY PLAYER, OPTION RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER: Miles Mastrobuoni will be on the Mariners roster for the final game of the regular season. CLICK HERE

DAN WILSON, LOGAN GILBERT PRAISE HARRY FORD: The All-Star pitcher and skipper were extremely complimentary towards the rookie catcher after his first start. CLICK HERE

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!