Seattle — At the age of just 21 years old, Julio Rodríguez is the youngest MLB player EVER to be named an All-Star. Shortly after being named an All-Star, Rodríguez announced that he was entering the 2022 HomeRun Derby as well. Rodríguez is a true five-tool player showing off all his tools in his first season in the big leagues.
Rodríguez was signed by the Seattle Mariners at the age of 16 years old in 2017. In 2018, he made his debut with the Rookie Level Summer League Mariners, where he quickly rose through the Mariners farm system. In August of 2021, Rodríguez was ranked as the #1 prospect in the Mariners farm system and the #2 overall prospect in all of baseball. Rodríguez was called up to the show and made his major league debut this season on Opening Day (April 8, 2022). Since Rodríguez was called to the majors, he has been putting the league on notice after winning AL Rookie of the Month in May and June.
On the season, Rodríguez owns an above-average slash line hitting .274/.333/.474 with 15 HRs and 21 stolen bases. Although his strikeout rate and walk rate are subpar at 26.9% and 6.9%, respectively, Rodríguez makes up for those numbers with his raw power and speed. For example, ISO is an MLB statistic that measures a player’s raw power by only taking extra-base hits and the type of extra-base hit into account. This season, the league-average ISO is .153, while Rodríguez’s ISO is sitting at .201 – which is significantly higher than the league average. On top of that, Rodríguez is 3rd this season in total stolen bases, only behind Jon Berti of the Miami Marlins and Jorge Mateo of the Baltimore Orioles.
In the past 30 days, Rodríguez has been raking with a .311/.363/.612 slash line with 7 HRs and 16 RBIs. These numbers are ridiculous considering the fact that Rodríguez is only 21 years old and in his rookie season. On a day-to-day basis, Rodríguez shows off both his hitting skills, speed, and leather in the outfield.
In terms of splits, Rodríguez particularly excels when facing left-handed pitching (.301 BA) versus right-handed pitching (.266). Rodríguez hits the fastball well with a .314 BA and .564 SLG but struggles against break balls, hitting just .236 with a .459 SLG. Seattle Mariners manager, Scott Servais, has put Rodríguez in all spots in the batting order, but Rodríguez has hit the best from the 3rd spot. Rodríguez has recorded most of his plate appearances from the 3 spot and has a BA of .333 from there.
Featured below are Baseball Savant’s 2022 MLB Percentile Rankings for Julio Rodríguez:
The one thing Rodríguez needs to work on is his plate discipline. Rodríguez’s outside zone swing rate is sitting at 36.8%, while the league average is at 32.3%. Also, Rodríguez makes contact with 69.3% of pitches while the league average is higher at 76.6%. When looking at Rodríguez’s plate discipline stats, all of them are below average/subpar. If Rodríguez can lower his chase rate, his K rate will lower, and he will only get better.
While there are many AL Rookie of the Year candidates, the Seattle Mariners outfielder seems t have the best chance to win the award. Julio Rodríguez is putting the league on notice with his raw power, flashy defensive plays, and raw speed. I fully expect to see the young rookie from the Dominican Republic win the AL Rookie of the Year award this season. Julio Rodríguez has a bright future ahead of him after already being selected t0 his first All-Star game and Home Run Derby. Bravo, Julio!
A few interesting statistics about Julio Rodríguez:
- Youngest All-Star in MLB history
- 6th Seattle Mariner Rookie to be selected to an All-Star game
- AL Rookie of the Month Winner for BOTH May and June
- Top 3% of the league in Max Exit Velocity (115.0 %)
- Top 6% of the league in HardHit% (50.6%)
- Top 9% of the league in Exit Velocity (92.1%)
Matthew Suh is the founder of Fresh Coast Sports as well as a staff writer for Fresh Coast Sports, Talking Points Sports, and The Press Box. While Matthew covers all sports, including the NFL, NBA, and MLB, he tends to focus on writing about the MLB. Questions about the MLB or baseball? Follow or DM Matthew on Twitter @matthewsuh for inquiries!
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