Best part of Julio's web gem was Naylor

It’s a pretty regular occurrence that Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez makes a must-see catch. But usually, he’s the only Mariners player doing something you must see on his highlight reel plays.

Mariners within a game of AL West lead after win, Astros collapse

On Tuesday night, Rodríguez pulled off one of his most ridiculous catches yet. And yes, you must see it.

Here’s the wrinkle: You also need to watch Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor in the highlight. Because as ridiculous as Rodríguez’s catch was, Naylor was fully expecting it when the ball left St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera’s bat for deep right-center field. Like, to a borderline hilarious level.

Speaking to reporters postgame, Naylor made mention of his confidence in the moment before Rodríguez made the catch.

“Honestly with that catch, once it was hit I didn’t even like look. I just walked into the dugout because I just trusted that he was going to get it,” Naylor said. “He’s a really elite outfielder. He gets really good jumps.”

There is no exaggeration in Naylor’s statement. You can see it in the video of the play – three seconds in, a wide shot of the field shows Rodríguez running towards the ball and Naylor facing the other direction, casually striding back toward the dugout.

Josh Naylor said he was so sure Julio would make that catch that he turned to walk into the dugout before it was caught. I was skeptical. ⁦@Lyle_Goldstein⁩ proved me wrong. pic.twitter.com/ZhjKx3FWEI

— Mike Salk, Seattle Sports (@TheMikeSalk) September 10, 2025

To be fair, Naylor was right. Rodríguez did make the catch, even though it had an .800 expected batting average (per Baseball Savant), the highest of any batted ball in Tuesday’s game that wasn’t a hit. The catch prevented the Cardinals from putting a runner in scoring position and bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning of a 5-3 game (that proved to be the final score).

Rodríguez is a candidate to win his first Gold Glove in 2025. He ranks in the 96th percentile in outs above average with 9 this season, per Baseball Savant.

With this version of Julio, Mariners can ‘legitimately’ win it all

As for Naylor, he had a pretty big hand in the Mariners’ win Tuesday. He went 3 for 4 with a go-ahead solo home run in the fifth inning.

Since coming to Seattle in a pre-trade deadline deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the one-time All-Star is hitting .271 with an .801 OPS. In 39 games with the M’s, he already has eight home runs and a 1.5 fWAR, compared to 11 homers and a 0.8 fWAR in 93 games with Arizona.

Rodríguez, Naylor and the Mariners will go after a sweep of the Cardinals in a 6:40 p.m. Wednesday series finale. Radio coverage on Seattle Sports will begin at 5:30 with the pregame show.

Best part of Julio’s web gem was Naylor

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