Julio Rodríguez is saving the Mariners' season and destroying a noxious narrative

No matter how Webster's dictionary defines it, "overrated" is probably the most useless word in the English language. The word itself poses a fundamentally unanswerable question, as both the "rated" part and the "over" part are ultimately subjective.

This damn word is nonetheless unavoidable in the sports world, and Seattle Mariners fans know this all too well because of how often it has been applied to Julio Rodríguez.

We can get into what causes his haters to flash their gums, but let's grant that this precise moment is a tough one for that crowd. On Saturday, Julio pretty much single-handedly guided the Mariners to a 10-2 win over the Atlanta Braves that they needed in the worst way. He made a spectacular catch and blasted his 29th and 30th homers, both of which were two-run shots that gave the Mariners leads.

With the win, the Mariners staved off a loss that could have cost them their standing in the American League's third wild card spot. And with his starring role, Rodríguez kept doing...well, basically what he's been doing.

Julio Rodríguez has gone from borderline All-Star to Mariners' 2nd-half MVP

It's hard to tell exactly when Rodríguez became a target of the dreaded O-word, but we know that even some of his peers were skeptical by the time last August rolled around.

Julio was an easy target at the time. The first four months of last season had seen him post a sub-.700 OPS, marking a huge step down from his 30-30 season in 2023 and his AL Rookie of the Year-winning season in 2022. He was also on the injured list when that poll was released.

All this was happening less than two years after the Mariners had signed him to a big-bucks extension. And while he did eventually recover and get very hot at the end of 2024, it was too little, too late and reminiscent of 2022 and 2023 in a bad way. He also needed hot finishes to erase slow starts in those seasons.

Granted, the Mariners fanbase is not blameless in spreading the gospel that Rodríguez had become overrated. Even now, you can drop Julio's name in the waters of X and expect Mariners fandom to be represented by delegations of both happy dolphins and bloodthirsty piranhas.

Yet whatever fair gripes Julio's critics have, the reality right now is that he's been carrying the Mariners for close to two months at this point:

• Through July 10: 11 HR, 96 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR
• Since July 11: 19 HR, 166 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR

The latter of those dates marked the start of the Mariners' final series of the first half, when they went into Detroit and swept the Tigers. Rodríguez homered in all three games, as if to prove he deserved to be an All-Star even though he had just announced he would be sitting the game out.

Never mind just on the Mariners, Julio has been arguably the best player in the AL since that series. Only three qualified hitters have a better wRC+ since July 11, and not one of the three (Nick Kurtz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette) is a candidate to also win a Gold Glove in center field.

That the Mariners are only 26-23 since Julio got hot is the bad news, but it isn't hard to imagine how much worse it would be if he was so much as lukewarm instead. And particularly lately, as the team is still only 7-15 in its last 22 even after Saturday's win.

To be clear, Cal Raleigh is still the rightful 2025 MVP of the Mariners and arguably of the entire American League. He hit his league-leading 52nd homer on Saturday, and it cannot be said loudly or often enough that he is doing this as a primary catcher.

Yet Julio has at least played his way into some down-ballot MVP votes, and he might even come close to Raleigh in the final vote given the latter's solid, yet not spectacular play over the last two months. To wit, he only has a 116 wRC+ since that fateful Tigers series.

Whatever the case, what Julio has done in 2025 has further enhanced the legitimate greatness of his first four major league seasons. He's the only player to ever start his career with four straight 20-20 seasons, and he is challenging even Ken Griffey Jr.'s value from his first four years with the Mariners.

There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't benefit from having a Julio Rodríguez in center field. And now more than ever, the Mariners and Mariners fans should be grateful that they're the ones who actually do benefit from having him out there.