Mariners vs. Orioles: Dylan gives fans Moore, Castillo cooks up some soft contact, Julio flashes his gold glove

Against one of their toughest opponents of the season, a few players shined through an otherwise dismal set of games

Seattle Mariners v Baltimore Orioles
Seattle Mariners v Baltimore Orioles | Mitchell Layton/GettyImages
3 of 3

Best Moment: Julio Rodríguez brings the no fly zone to Baltimore

It hasn't been a great year for the team superstar. He's slashing just .274/.322/.333 and has just two home runs over 199 plate appearances. His swing decisions and plate discipline have been quite bad, with all of his savant percentiles being in the bottom 20% of qualified hitters in MLB. Everyone has been eagerly waiting for his offensive resurgence and it's yet to come.

However, one thing that has remained top-notch has been his defense. In fact, despite his below-average OPS+ of just 94, he still has the fourth-highest rWAR on the team with 1.0. He's already got five outs above average (fifth among outfielders) and five defensive runs saved (sixth among outfielders).

The latest example of his prowess was a home run robbery against Anthony Santander in the first game of the series. With an exit velocity of 105.5 mph, a distance of 406 feet, and an xBA of .890, it was a great defensive play, even if it didn't quite change the outcome of the game.

The best part of Julio's game is just how well-rounded he is. In the past few years, he's shown off great abilities in all five of the tools but just hasn't managed to put things together at the plate just yet. There's still a possibility he goes on one of his unbelievable hit streaks at some point in the season but in order to do so, he'll have to keep his spirits and self-belief high. Plays like this prove that he's truly a ballplayer of the highest order, so I wouldn't count him out just yet.

Schedule