‘Classic slump’: MLB insider diagnoses what’s wrong with Julio’s swing

The struggles at the plate are continuing for the Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez.

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A two-time All-Star, the third-year center fielder is well off his career numbers this season through 86 games entering Wednesday. He is hitting .244 with a .294 on-base percentage and .324 slugging mark for just a .617 OPS, which is well below the .818 OPS he had last year and .853 OPS he put up in 2022.

Homers and doubles are down for Rodríguez, strikeouts are up, and it all seems to be getting to him. In 13 games since June 15, which was his last multi-hit game, Rodríguez is just 6 for 52 (.115) with three walks and no hits for extra bases.

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Former MLB player and current analyst Mark DeRosa put Rodríguez’s struggles under the microscope Wednesday morning on MLB Network’s “MLB Central,” breaking down what he sees as the issues of the 23 year old’s “classic slump.”

Watch the full segment here:

“We know what he can be when he's right. He's a top-5 MVP candidate every year.”

It's time to get Julio Rodríguez right with Dr. DeRo!#TridentsUp | @markdero7 pic.twitter.com/HjZtKXp0lR

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 3, 2024

Here are a few things worth mentioning from the video.

• DeRosa explains how Rodríguez is essentially jamming himself, not opposing pitchers, and shows how he’s not catching up to all types of pitches, making it all that much easier for pitchers to rely on their fastballs to put him away.

• DeRosa shares why he thinks the way out of the slump for Rodríguez is not by increasing his pull rate but rather by going the other way, which he sees as a more natural result of his bat path.

• At the end, DeRosa prescribes three “treatments” that he believes will lead Rodríguez out of his slump and turn him back into the hitter the Mariners need him to be.

For more from DeRosa, check out what he said about Rodríguez the last time he was a guest on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob in the article at this link.

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