This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Prior to Thursday’s game against the Astros, Julio Rodríguez was scratched with back tightness. He is considered day to day.
HOUSTON -- When Julio Rodríguez talks hitting these days, much of his commentary centers on “being in the zone.” And the literal essence of what he describes has translated to the grander metaphor for his continued rise this month.
The Mariners’ center fielder is far more disciplined in the pitches he’s hunting, those in the strike zone. And it’s led him to just generally being in the zone at the plate, as he’s been the Mariners’ most productive hitter in May outside Cal Raleigh, who’s playing his way into the AL MVP conversation.
“I just stay with my approach through the whole at-bat,” Rodríguez said. “And like, it doesn't really matter what [pitchers] do. I just kind of hunt in my zone. If they want to throw something around [or out of] the zone, that's not really what I want to do. So I just try to stick to the strike zone as much as I can, and just leave everything else for them.”
Rodríguez entered Seattle’s four-game series in Houston on Thursday with a .794 OPS and five homers in this month, one shy of his all-time high of six in May, done in his AL Rookie of the Year Award-winning season in 2022. As has been well-chronicled, he typically hits his stride after the All-Star break.
More telling, though, is that Rodríguez’s significant dip in strikeouts has sustained, as his K rate for the month has hovered around 11.5% -- down from 23.7% in March/April and his 25.2% career rate over his first three seasons.
A simple mathematics correlation then explains why his 81.4% contact rate in May is the highest it’s ever been in any of the 20 in-season months he’s been in the Majors.
And much of the improvement -- at least in how he describes it -- is rooted in simplicity.
“There are a lot of pitches that are not going to be in the zone,” Rodríguez said. “They're going to try to make you chase. That's just kind of the game. So I feel like, once you really stick to your plan, to your zone, and all that, you can allow yourself to give you a chance on the ones that are actually in your zone.”
If it also looks like Rodríguez has been on the immediate attack, it’s because he has.
More than one-third of his hits this season (16 of 45) have been on the first pitch, which has correlated to a .340 batting average and .745 slugging percentage in 0-0 counts -- including a decisive grand slam on Monday in Chicago.
“Not being afraid,” Rodríguez said. “Just trusting yourself, trusting your ability and that your eyes are going to recognize something in the zone. And be ready to go. And just kind of making them uncomfortable, too. Like, know that I'm going to be looking to swing.”
This more pointed first-pitch approach can come with subsequent benefits.
Rodríguez can sell out for power early in counts, but only if pitches are in his zone, then shorten up as the at-bat progresses. In two-strike counts this month, Rodríguez is hitting .241 with a .448 slugging percentage, way up from his career numbers prior, which were .173 and .281, respectively.
“I feel like more comfortable with it, trusting it more and just sticking to who I am,” Rodríguez said. “Like, it doesn't matter the count. And I feel like that's why I've been getting more comfortable with the approach and all that.”
The approach also plays to the strengths of his hitting profile, which came with extra encouragement from Mariners director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez.
“I've always been like a guy that likes to drive the ball to the opposite field or right-center,” Rodríguez said. “So as soon as he mentioned, 'No, try to drive to the middle and just kind of let the offspeed pitch and all that kind of pull themselves,’ it fit right in with me and the things that I like to do.”
There will obviously be hiccups -- but a lot of signs are pointing to the Mariners’ most talented player becoming a more complete hitter.
“Once you're in there, you're just kind of in go-mode,” Rodríguez said. “Sometimes you're gonna [screw] it up. Like, it is what it is. But I think you just try your best to stay in the moment and kind of see one pitch that seems in the zone and just let it rip. Everything else will take care of itself.”