The most important player in the American League?

If the Seattle Mariners make a return to the playoffs in 2025, there are two things you can expect to point at as being key reasons.

One would be continued dominance from Seattle’s impressive five-man starting rotation.

And the other would be a superstar-level season from center fielder Julio Rodríguez.

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The career of the 24-year-old Rodríguez is off to a great start, as he’s already been Rookie of the Year, made multiple All-Star teams, won a pair of Silver Sluggers, twice stolen the show in the Home Run Derby, and emerged as one of the faces of baseball.

The 2024 season, however, wasn’t Rodríguez at his best. He finished with a .273/.325/.409 slash line for a .734 OPS, but he needed a strong last few months to recover from a dismal .244/.293/.323 slash and .616 OPS entering July 4.

The Mariners’ offense as a whole was down last season, though. The M’s ranked 21st in runs scored, 22nd in OPS and 29th in batting average in 2024, and that was even with a much better showing in the last month of the season where Seattle actually had one of the best offenses in baseball.

Pretty similar to Rodríguez, now that we mention it.

Ah, right.

Well, in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm from “Jurassic Park,” there it is.

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It’s already been said, but it can’t be said enough: the weight of the Mariners’ season, at least offensively speaking, sits on the shoulders of Julio Rodríguez.

That’s certainly how MLB Network insider Jon Morosi feels, and he put it in pretty concrete terms when he joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob for his weekly Wednesday conversation.

This is the question host Bob Stelton had for Morosi: “It seems impossible to understate how crucial it is for him to get off to a good start, is it not?”

And this is how Morosi responded:

“He is perhaps the most important player in the American League.”

Yet again, there it is.

Morosi explained further as he continued his response.

“Now we can talk about most valuable, most talented, etc., but to his team, I am not sure if there’s a more important player in 2025 than Julio Rodríguez to the Seattle Mariners, because of a lot of things we’ve documented in these conversations. If he is back to being himself, and if the pitching stays healthy – two ifs, but two reasonable ifs, I’m not asking Dylan Moore to hit 90 home runs, these are reasonable asks.

“Keep the rotation healthy, more or less, and then have Julio play like the player that he was signed to be.”

Floor-raiser

Rodríguez had a huge rookie season with an .853 OPS and the first of three straight 20-20 campaigns thus far, and he in many ways topped it in his second year in 2023 when he set career-highs by slugging 32 home runs, hitting 37 doubles, stealing 37 bases, scoring 102 runs, and driving in 103 RBIs.

If Rodríguez can put together a season that combines the consistency of his rookie season (.284/.345/.509 slash line) with the dynamic combination of power and speed that he showcased as a sophomore, it seems to be a given that concerns about the Mariners will cease to be as loud as they’ve been the past two years.

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Rodríguez is the kind of high-ceiling player who can raise the floor for those around him in the lineup. The Mariners certainly hope to see that happen for players like Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano, Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles, and Rodríguez himself said this week at spring training that the M’s have a “talented group” and he’s excited that a majority of the team that finished 2024 strong is back to begin this season.

“If he can do that,” Morosi said of Rodríguez playing to his potential in 2025, “(the Mariners) believe there’s more in there for Polanco, that he could be solid for a full season. They think Solano’s going to give them some good contact. These are reasonable ideas, and I love the projection that Julio is saying, hey, I like what we’ve got internally, we can build on what happened in the second half (of 2024).

“In fairness, we have not seen a Julio, Arozarena, Robles outfield for a full season. We haven’t seen it yet. And if Julio brings out more of what we saw from him in some glimpses down the stretch last season, I like what he’s saying, I like what this team can do.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with MLB Network’s Jon Morosi in the podcast at this link or in the audio and video players near the top of this post. Catch Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• When the Mariners expect back two pitchers who missed 2024
• Bullpen prospect who could be next M’s hidden gem
• Have expectations changed for Mariners star Julio Rodríguez?
• Takeaways: Mariners’ Cal Raleigh on Edgar, Gilbert, 2025 and more
• Rowland-Smith: Who should be Seattle Mariners’ opening day starter

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