PEORIA, Ariz. — The Mariners have kept star outfielder Julio Rodriguez out of action for the first few games of spring training because of inflammation and discomfort in his left hand. But now, the All-Star is set to return to the diamond.
During Wednesday's media session, Mariners manager Scott Servais said, "Julio is good. He hit in the cages and felt good. He's on pace to where he'll probably play in the game on Saturday, That's what I'm hoping for," said Servais.
Julio Rodriguez is the only player to win the Silver Slugger award in each of his first two major league seasons, but Rodriguez says he's far from satisfied.
"I love where he is at, I mean to have a 30-30 season, and to I think he called it a bad season, I mean that just shows you the type of guy he is, and he knows what type of player he is, and I respect him for that. He's still so young and I think people really forget that he's only 23 years old and that back-to-back 30-30 seasons like me that's pretty dang good. But you know, he's holding himself to a higher standard to and watch out for that boy this year," says Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford.
"We're not going to back down from anybody. And we're going to learn and we will keep moving forward," Rodriguez added.
Julio is hoping Christmas comes early for Mariner fans this year by delivering another trip to the postseason.
While the five starting pitchers are getting a lot of attention at Spring Training, Rodriguez says this team will score more runs this year. He's excited about all the new additions to the lineup.
"We're a team that is looking to grind out at-bats on any pitcher. We're going to go up against anybody and like you will know you're going to have that good consistent at bat you know that you're going to have somebody that can pass the baton. This is a lineup that's going to be tough to face, top to bottom because you're going to have those relentless hitters," says Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is the face of the franchise, but Servais reminds us he's still very young. He's still learning and maturing, but he is on the right path. In 2023, Julio says he had a sophomore slump, but he had a very good July and August and ended up fourth in the AL MVP voting.
"We are just scratching the surface (with Julio). I think what we can see from Julio is somebody you know, he's a player that we all should feel really good about. I get to watch him play 162 games this year, and, you know, after seeing what he can do, when he's on top of his game, there's no better player in the game to watch," Servais added.