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The Seattle Mariners are going for it, as evidenced by their trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Josh Naylor. But the biggest improvement for the Mariners is going to have to come from within. Star center fielder Julio Rodriguez hasn't quite been at his best in 2025. Even then, Rodriguez has remained a picture of consistency. On Wednesday night, he hit his 15th home run of the season and stole his 20th base in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
In so doing, Rodriguez made history. According to Mariners PR on X (formerly Twitter), Rodriguez became the first player not just in franchise history, but in all of MLB, to record at least 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases for the first four years of one's career — an outstanding feat.
While 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases aren't exactly numbers that would catch anyone's eye, it's a testament to Rodriguez's ability to be a consistently productive player while playing an up-the-middle position that he's able to produce this feat.
He's played in 132, 155, and 143 games in his first three seasons, proving he has incredible durability. And thus far in 2025, he's only missed one game — a May 22 contest against the Houston Astros that he was absent for due to back tightness that clearly wasn't very serious, as he hasn't missed a game since.
Rodriguez, of course, would want to be more productive for the Mariners in 2025 than he has been thus far. He's currently slashing just .254/.315/.416 on the year, which would be a personal-worst in all triple-slash categories. Some of it has been due to poor batted-ball luck, but some of it has been due to poor quality of contact as well.
At least, Rodriguez is showing signs of life in July, as he's posted a .770 OPS thus far on the month. The Mariners will need him to be better, however, if they were to establish themselves as a playoff team.
Julio Rodriguez looking to return to superstar status for the Mariners
Rodriguez burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie all the way back in 2022, slashing .284/.345/.509 and firmly establishing himself as the league's greatest young superstars. Rodriguez's production dipped on a per-game basis in 2023, but he played in nearly all of the 162 games and remained very consistent, finishing top-four in MVP voting in the process.
However, the Mariners star hasn't been quite at his best at the plate since. Since the start of the 2024 season, Rodriguez has posted an OPS of .734 — a far-cry from where he once was. But he's only 24 years of age, so he has plenty of time to figure it out.
