No surprise – Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez is AL Player of the Week
Aug 21, 2023, 2:25 PM | Updated: 2:26 pm
Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners holds up the home run trident in Kansas City on Aug. 17, 2023. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
For the second time this season and third time in his career, Seattle Mariners phenom Julio Rodríguez has been named AL Player of the Week. But you probably could have guessed that was coming, right?
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Rodríguez has clearly been at another level over the last week, hitting 21 for 37 (.568) with two home runs, four doubles, 12 RBIs, seven runs and six stolen bases in his last seven games. He has a .579 on-base percentage and .838 slugging clip for a 1.417 OPS over that span, leading the Mariners to a 6-1 record along the way.
The Mariners (69-55) played their way into playoff position during Rodríguez’s hot streak, entering play Monday with a half-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL’s third and final wild card.
Hotter than the sun.@JRODshow44 is the AL Player of the Week! 🔱
🔗 https://t.co/u4OrgJdmSA pic.twitter.com/tNyuMd1DH2
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 21, 2023
The 22-year-old All-Star especially caught fire from Wednesday through Saturday, as he set an MLB record with 17 hits in a four-game span, beating a 98-year-old record set by the Brooklyn Robins’ Milt Stock, who had 16 hits from June 30 to July 5, 1925. Rodríguez also tied Stock’s record of four straight games with at least four hits.
Watch a video with all 17 of his hits over that four-game run here:
On the season, Rodríguez has a slash line of .278/.336/.462 for a .798 OPS with 21 homers, 30 doubles, a triple, 79 RBIs, 76 runs and 33 steals. He has joined Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr., another current second-year star, as the only players in MLB history with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in each of their first two seasons, and he is the only player in M’s history to begin his career with back-to-back 20-homer campaigns.
Rodríguez previously won AL Player of the Week for May 22-28 this season and June 27-July 3, 2022.
This is the third AL Player of the Week award for the Mariners in 2023, with pitcher Logan Gilbert taking the honors for July 3-9.
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