Ken Griffey Jr. Provides Mentorship For Seattle Mariners Rising Superstar Julio Rodriguez | “Who’s Going To Be Better?”
They say game recognizes game and Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez’ historic play over the past two seasons has drawn comparisons to another Mariners great, 2016 Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.
“The Kid” took notice of J-Rod’s talent early last season and has placed the August AL Player of the month under his wing.
“He’s always open to talk about everything,” Rodríguez said. “It’s really cool to have him around. I know a lot of people are always trying to compare us and say, ‘Who’s going to be better?’ But I feel like [we both] have [our] own time and I’m really grateful that I have someone in my corner to mentor me and tell me the things that I should expect along the way. It’s really cool having his help. He’s definitely one of the greatest players ever to play the game.”
While the similarities are there: Gold Glove caliber defense, elite power, youthful exuberance and effortless swagger, it seems unfair to both parties to forecast whether Rodriguez will match or surpass his mentor’s career.
However, at this point, it does seem that J-Rod is destined for greatness, and soaking up game from Junior can’t hurt one bit.
The Seattle Mariners were floundering early in the season and fell as far as 10 games out of first place on July 1st. Then the team flipped a switch and recaptured the magic that helped them break a long playoff drought in 2022 leading to optimism for this season.
The M’s (79-61) are now embroiled in a heated three team battle with fellow AL West foes – The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers.
MLBbros In A Close Battle For American League West Division Crown
Since July 1st, The Mariners are a scorching 41-19 (.683) in their last 60 games. They are now currently sitting a ½ game out of first place, and alone in the second AL Wild Card spot. No team has performed better over that span.
Seattle Transformation Led By Julio Rodriguez
Seattle’s remarkable turnaround runs concurrent with the resurgence of 22-year-old phenom Julio Rodriguez, who has shaken off an early sophomore jinx to put together another historical speed/power season.
The two-time All-Star is hitting .337 with 82 hits, 14 home runs, 51 RBIs and 39 runs scored since July 1st. He’s now batting .282, with 27 home runs and 93 RBIs.
His 5.3 War ranks eleventh best in MLB as of September 8. Just two weeks ago, Rodriguez became the fastest Mariner to smash 50 home runs, reaching the total in just 256 games. On September 5th in Cincinnati, he became the first player in MLB history to have 25 home runs and 25 steals in each of his first two seasons.
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