Mariners vs. Athletics: Dylan Wants Moore, Miller is Money, and Julio Heats Up

Best Moment: Julio's bat shows signs of life

The most worrying storyline for Mariners fans this year has been the seeming inability for Julio Rodríguez to uphold the offensive standard he's set over the past two years in the major leagues. In March/April, he posted a .606 OPS and had just four extra base hits over 124 plate appearances. Intrinsically, he's still in the top 10% of qualified hitters for average exit velocity (92.8 mph), bat speed (76.1 mph), and hard-hit rate (50.9%) but if baseball was won on intrinsic stats alone, Matt Chapman would be the best hitter of all time.

Fans have been waiting to see results and Julio simply hasn't met the expectations of most. In the final game of the series, we finally got to see flashes of the superstar we've all come to know and love. In the second inning, he torched a lazy sinker from Alex Wood and hit it 409 feet for his second home run of the season and first home run at home.

In the fifth inning, he hit a ball 403 feet off of Kyle Muller fastball that was just shy of being a home run and ended up as a double. These two extra base hits were just his sixth and seventh so far in 2024, showing just how lackluster he's been at this plate to this point. On the bright side, he's still playing spectacular defense and has stolen nine bases so he's trying his best to make up for his slow start in other places. However once Seattle gets their crown jewel in his full form, they just might be the team to beat in the AL West.