Julio Rodríguez Finds His Smile Again as Mariners Surge Toward the Postseason

Julio Rodríguez has spent much of the past two seasons trying to get out from under the expectations that followed his arrival in Seattle. As of Aug. 15, 2025, the Mariners center fielder says he has stopped fighting who he is, and his play has improved along with his outlook.

Rodríguez electrified Seattle as a rookie in 2022 with a bright smile and an .853 OPS over 132 games, and he later signed a $200 million contract. He has not matched that OPS since. He has remained among the game's best, ranking 10th in baseball over the past four seasons by FanGraphs wins above replacement. Still, a slow start in 2023 made even a 32-homer, 37-steal, 103-RBI year feel like a letdown. Last season he was not an all-star. This year he was selected, though he entered July hitting .247 with an OPS under .700.

Since then, he has turned it around, hitting eight home runs in July and posting a 1.053 OPS in August. He was already playing outstanding defense this season and had become the first player in history to open a career with four consecutive seasons of 20 homers and 20 steals. Seattle is 9-3 in August, and Rodríguez is at the center of the run.

Rodríguez said he spent recent years worrying about how his natural, lighthearted style would be perceived when he struggled. He enjoys joking and teasing opponents during games, but feared he had to hide that side of himself and earn the right to play loose by performing well every day. He came to see that preparation and seriousness are not the same thing. "But I learned I can do the same thing with a smile on my face, and I feel like that's who Julio is," he said.

He credited a reassuring inner circle and long conversations with his mother for the shift, which he said arrived over the past few months, and acknowledged that letting go is easier said than done. "I know my personality now a lot more," Rodríguez said. "I'm able to just navigate it and give myself that grace." Manager Dan Wilson said he has noticed the change. "In some ways, he's aged this year. Matured," Wilson said, adding that the joy and love for the game appear to be returning.

The 24-year-old has historically been a slow starter. He has a .737 OPS and 53 homers in 370 first-half games in his career, compared with a .906 OPS and 51 homers in 181 second-half games. He also still has a 35 percent chase rate. Clutch situations remain a weak spot this year: with two outs and runners in scoring position he is hitting .189 with a .623 OPS, compared with .289 and an .893 OPS in his rookie season, when Seattle reached the postseason for the first time since 2001.

The lineup around him is lighter on his shoulders than in past years. Seattle has long been built on pitching, but this season the offense has improved, largely because catcher Cal Raleigh is having one of the more productive offensive seasons of the past half-decade. President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto then added Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez at the trade deadline in the club's most aggressive midseason move of the decade. Seattle now trails first-place Houston by 1½ games in the American League West.

The Astros recently lost closer Josh Hader indefinitely to a shoulder injury, with the deadline passed and no chance to replace him, while potential AL contenders such as the Yankees and Rangers have struggled. Shortstop J.P. Crawford said the additions have filled out the lineup, calling Suárez "one of my favorite teammates ever" and saying Naylor is "literally good at everything."

Rodríguez has long been seen as the face of a golden era in Seattle, and he says he wants to be the one to bring the city a title. For now, he is focused on shedding outside pressure. "At the end of the day, I'm the one playing center field and batting third in the lineup," he said. "I'm the only one that knows how it feels to be me, and I just try to do the best I can."