PEORIA, Ariz. \u2013 As a kid growing up in Loma De Cabrera, a town of just over 25,000 people in the northwest corner of the Dominican Republic, Julio Rodr\u00edguez spent hours upon hours on the same dirt baseball field, certain he would be playing Major League Baseball someday.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t an outlandish belief, despite the impossible odds for any young player to reach the game\u2019s highest level. His obvious talent, his passion for the game and a tireless work ethic instilled in him by his parents seemed like the right equation to carry him to baseball\u2019s highest level.<\/p>\n
And while he always knew he would be a big-league baseball player, achieving that goal following an astonishing spring training in 2022 and becoming the Mariners\u2019 everyday center fielder at age 21, he searched to find his true identity as a player. The separation from good to great and great to elite is often simply understanding what makes you successful, working to do it better and more often.<\/p>\n
Even after his success as a rookie, making the American League All-Star team, winning the AL Rookie of the Year and finishing seventh in MVP voting, Rodr\u00edguez continued to search for ways to improve, particularly as a hitter. He was still oozing with potential. Each offseason, he tinkered with his stance, his load and swing, experimented with different approaches to hitting, listened to different advice \u2013 some good, some bad and some unwanted. It didn\u2019t lead to consistent success, and at times, resulted in early-season struggles.<\/p>\n
But not this offseason.<\/p>\n
Early Tuesday morning, as the Mariners prepared to hold their first official full-squad workout of spring training, Rodr\u00edguez met with the media. Always optimistic and entertaining, he seemed almost sage-like when discussing how he\u2019d grown as a player. The 2025 season offered him a chance to grow as a leader, becoming more vocal in the clubhouse, while also offering insight into his identity as a hitter and a player as the Mariners came just eight outs from making their first World Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like last year, I learned a lot of things about myself, like the player I am, the things I like to do, the things I\u2019m better at, the things I\u2019m not so good at,\u201d he said. \u201cIt came with maturity a little bit, but just kind of understanding more about myself within the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players can spend their whole career searching for what makes them the best version of themselves.<\/p>\n
For Rodr\u00edguez, some of the clarity came in his decision to not play in last year\u2019s All-Star Game, instead using the four-day break to rest his body and reset his mind. He had a staycation of sorts, staying at home and doing a little bit of soul searching. His first half wasn\u2019t bad. But it could\u2019ve been so much more.<\/p>\n
In 95 games and 431 plate appearances, Rodr\u00edguez posted a .252\/.313\/.417 (average\/on-base percentage\/slugging percentage) slash line with 18 doubles, three triples, 14 homers, 50 RBIs, 17 stolen bases, 28 walks and 93 strikeouts.<\/p>\n
He was trying to embrace Edgar Martinez\u2019s simple approach of staying to the middle of the field at the plate while also trying to reduce his strikeouts, particularly with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez evaluated everything he did in the first half \u2013 the good and bad. He had some hard conversations with himself. He was honest and harsh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like sometimes you\u2019ve got to be your best own coach,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce you step on the field, or you step in that batter\u2019s box, it\u2019s on you. There\u2019s nobody else. If you don\u2019t realize those things for yourself, it doesn\u2019t matter how much people tell you. Everybody has their own things they have to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he returned to the field July 18, he had a refreshed mindset. He was going to embrace the good, discard the bad and accept what couldn\u2019t be controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the second half started going on and on, I kept getting more validations on those things,\u201d he said. \u201cI started to feel like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s who I am and what I want to bring to the field.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
With a clear mind, the subsequent results were outstanding. Over the final 65 games, he posted a .290\/.341\/.560 slash line with 14 doubles, a triple, 18 homers, 45 RBI and had 13 stolen bases.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s finished strong in the second half of every one of his major-league seasons,\u201d said Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations. \u201cAnd when I say strong, like one of the best players in baseball, during the second half of any one of those major-league seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something unique about what he did the second half last year, as opposed to in years past,\u201d Dipoto said. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it feels that way. It just felt like he became a more mature player who was aware of his impact on the game day to day. It\u2019s coming up with big hits in big moments to doing all the little things that sometimes would get away from him earlier in his career.\u201d<\/p>\n
That maturity and clarity, along with competing in the World Baseball Classic, is why Dipoto believes Rodr\u00edguez might not have one of his traditionally slow starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has had some difficulties in starting the season, I tend to think that some of that is just experience,\u201d Dipoto said. \u201cIt\u2019s trust, it\u2019s trust in himself. It\u2019s feeling trust in our group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manager Dan Wilson, who first saw Rodr\u00edguez as a teenager, marveled at his growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw a huge step in terms of his maturity,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cAnd I think he learned a lot about baseball. He learned a lot about himself. \u2026 The second half that he had was unreal. He is a guy that is full of joy, and when he plays with that joy, that\u2019s when he\u2019s at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n
While his offseason work was dedicated to repeating the things that made him successful to finish the season, he also dedicated some time and money to renovating that dirt field that he grew up on, dreaming big dreams.<\/p>\n
With the help of his shoe sponsor Adidas, and developer Brian Mejia of Brison SRL, who helped build the Orioles Dominican Academy, Rodr\u00edguez was able to do an extreme field makeover, turning what looked like a sandlot into a full complex with a modern baseball field with turf, lights, batting cages, bullpens, stands and amenities. He also added two tee-ball fields and a soccer field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the field for my first baseball experiences, first tournament, first home run, pretty much everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When he signed with the Mariners, he made it a goal to give back to his community in any way.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year I do a little activity for my hometown, we give back toys and baseball equipment, a lot of different things,\u201d he said. \u201cWe remodeled the cultural center where I celebrated my 17th birthday. It\u2019s something for community use for all the people. I was looking around thinking, what will be my next project. And it was the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unveiling drew a massive crowd and a host of Dominican baseball stars, including teammates Victor Robles and Luis Castillo along with Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Oneil Cruz, Christopher Morel, Ronel Blanco and former Mariner Nelson Cruz.<\/p>\n
They all came at the request of Rodr\u00edguez, who invited them to share in his accomplishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I feel like that\u2019s one of the greatest things I\u2019ve done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely helping out my community, and kind of like opening the door a little bit wider for the kids that are coming behind me from my hometown that had the same difficulties I had. It makes it a little bit easier for them. I feel like that\u2019s something that I\u2019m really here for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PEORIA, Ariz. \u2013 As a kid growing up in Loma De Cabrera, a town of just over 25,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2392],"tags":[5,620,4,619,65,3235],"class_list":{"0":"post-585581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-mariners","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mariners","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-seattle","12":"tag-seattle-mariners","13":"tag-seattlemariners"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116111299213748071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}