Mariners Lineup: Rare day off for rookie phenom Julio Rodríguez

The Mariners’ lineup looks a little different for their series opener Monday night against the Minnesota Twins, and a notable absence is the reason. Luckily, there’s no need to be alarmed by this absence.

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Rookie phenom Julio Rodríguez will get a rare day off, meaning somebody else will patrol center field for the M’s for the first time since early on in the season.

Slotted into Rodríguez’s regular spots will be Taylor Trammell in center field and shortstop J.P. Crawford in the 3-hole of the batting order for the 7:10 p.m. game. Like all Mariners games, radio coverage will be carried live on Seattle Sports Station 710 AM, SeattleSports.com and the Seattle Sports app starting 70 minutes prior to first pitch with the pregame show.

Rodríguez has played 59 of Seattle’s 60 games this season, and his lone day off was all the way back on April 12 in Chicago against the White Sox, which was just the fifth game of the year. The only Mariners player to play more than Rodríguez is first baseman Ty France, who has played all 60 games.

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There’s good reason for Rodríguez playing as much as he has. He won American League Rookie of the Month for May, leads all of baseball with 17 stolen bases, and has performed remarkably well for someone who came into 2022 with zero games of MLB experience. He currently owns a .262/.325/.418 slash line for a .743 OPS, along with eight home runs and a 116 OPS+ (MLB average is always 100).

The logic behind Monday being a good time for a day off is easy to figure out. Though Rodríguez had two hits including a home run on Saturday against Boston, he went 2 for 14 with five strikeouts over the three-game weekend series as the Red Sox attacked him consistently with breaking balls off the plate. He also was hit by a pair of pitches on his left arm last Wednesday in Houston, and the Mariners are three games into a 10-day homestand where they will play 11 games, including a doubleheader Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels.

For details on how to stream Mariners games from Seattle Sports online, click here.

Here are Monday’s full lineups for both the Mariners and Twins.

Mariners (27-33)

Jesse Winker, LF
Ty France, 1B
J.P. Crawford, SS
Eugenio Suárez, 3B
Adam Frazier, 2B
Abraham Toro, DH
Cal Raleigh, C
Taylor Trammell, CF
Dylan Moore, RF

Chris Flexen, SP

Flex starts game one with the Twins 💪 pic.twitter.com/pnshn1utuw

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 13, 2022

Twins (35-27)

Luis Arráez, 2B
Byron Buxton, DH
Carlos Correa, SS
Max Kepler, RF
Gary Sánchez, C
José Miranda, 1B
Trevor Larnach, LF
Gio Urshela, 3B
Gilberto Celestino, CF

Chris Archer, SP

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