{"id":621372,"date":"2026-03-13T05:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621372\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T05:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:39:28","slug":"julio-rodriguez-loves-mariners-but-winning-wbc-is-at-the-top-of-his-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621372\/","title":{"rendered":"Julio Rodriguez loves Mariners, but winning WBC is at the top of his list"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez, it\u2019s country pride over everything else.<\/p>\n<p>When speaking to reporters during a World Baseball Classic practice on Thursday, Rodriguez, who plays for the Dominican Republic, said that a tournament championship would just mean more to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love the Mariners,\u201d Rodriguez said, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FoulTerritoryTV\/status\/2032251544184479829\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">according to Foul Territory<\/a>. \u201cThey know I give my best for them every single time I step on the field, but winning the World Baseball Classic is at the top of the list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38765336\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dominican-republic-center-fielder-julio-123093429.jpg\" alt=\"Dominican Republic center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) returns to the dugout against the Netherlands during the sixth inning.\" class=\"wp-image-38765336\"  \/>Center fielder Julio Rodriguez returns to the dugout during the Dominican Republic\u2019s blowout win over the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park on March 8, 2026. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>This year is Rodriguez\u2019s second appearance in the WBC, as he represented the D.R. ahead of his sophomore season in 2023, when the team did not advance from pool play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is for my country, this is for my town, this is for the people in my neighborhood,\u201d Rodriguez added. \u201cIt\u2019s for everybody in the Dominican Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The D.R. went undefeated in pool play this time around, outscoring opponents 41-10 in four games, with some fiery performances in the opening round.<\/p>\n<p>Rodriguez spoke on the intense atmosphere, saying Thursday\u2019s win over Venezuela was the \u201cmost electric game\u201d that he\u2019s played in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe atmosphere was definitely the most electric game that I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FoulTerritoryTV\/status\/2032249027610525989\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">he said<\/a>. \u201cThe way that the Dominican fans just showed up it was amazing. I\u2019ve been in some crazy [MLB] playoff atmospheres, but the way that the Dominicans bring it is completely different. <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38765338\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dominican-republics-ketel-marte-right-123347358.jpg\" alt=\"Ketel Marte, wearing a red helmet and blue jersey, celebrates with teammate Julio Rodriguez after hitting a home run.\" class=\"wp-image-38765338\"  \/>Ketel Marte (right) celebrates with teammate Julio Rodriguez after hitting a home run during the third inning of the Dominican Republic\u2019s win over Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic game on March 11, 2026, in Miami. AP<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that was the rowdiest game I have been a part of. Just the two Latin cultures clashing last night I think was amazing and the biggest part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Teammate Juan Soto echoed Rodriguez\u2019s aspirations, saying that bringing home a title for the D.R. would be a \u201cdream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a dream for me to come here and try to win it for the Dominican Republic,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FoulTerritoryTV\/status\/2032246512013431008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The country has won the WBC once before, defeating Puerto Rico in 2013. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez, it\u2019s country pride over everything else. When speaking to reporters during a World&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,1888,4,65,185,4820],"class_list":["post-621372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-dominican-republic","tag-mlb","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116220262888018958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621372","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=621372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}