Julio Rodriguez surprised some of the baseball world in July.
The Seattle Mariners’ centerfielder was chosen to the All-Star Game. But he opted out, choosing not to play simply for his own well-being and not for any other reason.
Not everyone liked that. It’s viewed as an honor that should be appreciated and respected, the narrative went.
Except in retrospect, Julio may have made the right call.
He recharged for a few extra days, and since that decision, he put up huge numbers.
The Seattle Times’ Tim Booth shared Rodriguez’s stats since the opt-out:
.299/.356/.598 (.954 OPS), 21 HR, 16 2B, 51 RBI, 20 BB.
Yeah, that’ll work.
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Rodriguez was viewed as a bit of a surprise All-Star Game selection at the time.
But in the history books, it’ll look just right. He ended up with a 30-30 season.
Julio is the first Mariners player to ever have two 30-30 seasons. He’s also the second player his age to have reached multiple 30-30 seasons already, along with Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr.
Rodriguez is special, and by recharging his batteries he got the best chance to prove that in the second half as Seattle went on a historic run to the division title.
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