Watch: Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez blasts huge home run in 1st spring AB
Mar 18, 2022, 3:09 PM
Mariners prospect Julio Rodríguez runs out of the batter's box during a 2021 spring training game. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
It didn’t take long for top Mariners prospect Julio Rodríguez to make his presence known in spring training play.
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Rodríguez didn’t start the game for the Mariners and didn’t enter until the fifth inning, but when he stepped up to the plate for the first time in the sixth inning, he did a very mean thing to a baseball in his first at-bat of the spring with two runners on base.
After falling behind 0-2, Rodríguez got a hanging breaking ball and, simply put, he didn’t miss, giving Seattle a 3-1 lead at the time.
That would be a @JRODshow44 no-doubter 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QLIA0fENrk
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 18, 2022
It’s unclear just how far Rodríguez hit that ball — maybe it’s all the way back up here in Seattle? — but according to multiple reporters in Peoria, the ball had an exit velocity of 117 mph.
Rodríguez finished the 2021 season with a ridiculous .347/.441/.560 slash line with 13 home runs, 47 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 74 games between High-A and Double-A. He also shined for his native Dominican Republic, helping them win the Bronze medal at the Olympics.
Rodríguez enters the 2022 season as MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 prospect in all of baseball while Baseball America rates him as the No. 2 prospect in baseball.
Rodríguez and general manager Jerry Dipoto have discussed the possibility that the talented young outfielder breaks camp with the big league club. With more big moments like he had in his first plate appearance of the spring, Rodríguez may be up with Jarred Kelenic, Jesse Winker and Mitch Haniger in Seattle’s outfield come April 7.
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