Brock Rodden is stirring up irrational hopes he can be Mariners' sparkplug

Last season, Josh Naylor proved to be a galvanizing force after he arrived from Arizona, and was arguably the main reason the Mariners came closer than ever to that elusive first World Series berth. Now, it's clear the M's could use another sparkplug to get them going and save a season threatening to swirl away down the sink. Step forward, Brock Rodden.

SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer still hasn't determined if Rodden has a great name for a baseball player or a Hollywood star. However, maybe it can be a bit of both, when you combine his talent, work ethic and good looks. For goodness sake, he even has a background which includes once taking down an actual bull to to save his grandfather’s life.

With stories like that, it's no wonder Rodden is renowned for playing the game with no fear. Now, fans are wondering if he can alleviate their own fears and save the Mariners' playoff lives, and to be fair he's off to one heck of a start. Only called up to replace an injured Colt Emerson, the M's No. 19 prospect has proven to be better than expected. Seriously, who could have genuinely anticipated him starting his Major League career with a five-game hitting steak?

The Mariners have a fearless, unstoppable bundle of energy on their hands

Rodden absolutely deserved his opportunity after hitting .262 with a .841 OPS over 92 games this season in Triple-A Tacoma. He might be undersized at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, but his baseball IQ and aforementioned work-ethic combine with plus speed and enough talent, to create a fearless, unstoppable bundle of energy. Heck, he's also defensively versatile and even a switch-hitter.

It's obviously a small sample size at this stage, but Rodden has mixed it up at the plate so far, with his five hits including two doubles and a triple. He has a solid 90.5 mph exit velocity and 50.0 Hard-Hit%, resulting in already accruing three RBI. His savvy approach has also seen him manufacture three walks, and overall he has a .910 OPS and 160 OPS+.

To be clear, it hasn't all been a bed of roses for the 26-year-old. He has at times been a little bit too eager to please, with eight strikeouts in 21 plate appearances. We've also not really seen anything special defensively so far, with him starting all five games at shortstop in place of Emerson.

Brock Rodden is putting together an unlikely success story which could have Hollywood calling

On that last point, Emerson is going to be the better player long-term, but as of right now Rodden is basically a better version of him. With Emerson, you had a lot of swing and miss and soft contact, whereas at least Rodden crushes the ball. It's also easy to like Rodden batting ninth in the lineup, because even though he's technically meant to be an easy out, he's making pitchers work and can sting them if they're not careful.

Look, we don't expect Rodden to have the same level of influence that Naylor did last season, with the Mariners needing more to get them to where they want to be. At the same time, we're not going to entirely rule out the 2023 fifth-rounder's potential to have a significant impact, not with his name, background and good looks.

And if Rodden continues doing what he has done so far to begin his Major League career, he might just have a Hollywood executive contacting him about the rights to his story. No matter how far-fetched it sounds.

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