JULIO RODRIGUEZ

Outfielder | 6-foot-3, 180 pounds | Bats: Right | Throws: Right | Age: 19

Mariners prospect ranking: No. 2 (MLB Pipeline), No. 1 (Baseball America)

Path to Peoria: Signed a minor league contract with the Mariners as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2017 as a 16-year-old. Played for the Dominican Summer League Mariners in 2018. Opened last season with Low-A West Virginia, and despite missing three months with a fractured left hand, showed enough in 67 games to be promoted to High-A Modesto by August, where he finished the season. He then played in the Arizona Fall League during the offseason. This is his first major league camp invite.

Projected debut year: 2021

Scouting report: Rodriguez is the youngest player in Seattle’s major league camp this spring, but doesn’t look it. Though still a teenager, Rodriguez is already one of the most physically imposing players in the Mariners clubhouse — or, as manager Scott Servais says, Rodriguez has already grown into “his man muscles.” Rodriguez has consistently sent baseballs flying with a distinctive crack of the bat during batting practice and live sessions this spring. Though that has yet to translate into games this spring — he’s 0-for-6 with four strikeouts and has been hit by a pitch in three appearances — he will continue to play regularly and get a steady diet of seeing major league pitching this spring. Rodriguez is considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball after producing a .326/.390/.540 slash with 26 doubles, four triples, 12 homers and 69 RBI in 84 games at two stops in the minors last season. The Mariners are taking time and care with their young prospects, meaning unless Rodriguez posts otherworldly numbers in the minors this season that simply can’t be ignored, he won’t be seen regularly at T-Mobile Park until 2021 at the earliest.

By the numbers: Rodriguez hit safely in 11 of his first 12 games after his promotion to Modesto in August, earned a California League Player of the Week nod his second week there, and finished with a .462/.514/.738 slash in 17 games.

Quotable: On someday helping lead the Mariners back to the playoffs — “That’s definitely on our minds. Every single day we talk about it. We know that we’ll have the chance. We know that we’ll have the team down here. That’s our dream. ... The city needs it. The people from there need it, too. We want it. We’re really hungry for it.”

MARINERS FACES OF THE FUTURE

Wednesday was a big day for Seattle Mariners outfield prospect Julio Rodriguez.

Two weeks into his first major league camp, he was slotted into Seattle’s starting lineup in left field. And he was at the center of the Mariners’ daily morning meeting, speaking about his life growing up in the Dominican Republic in front of a room full of teammates and coaches.

“Awesome, really,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s just amazing — second language, 19 years old to get up in front of (about) 90 people in the room and not miss a beat.”

Rodriguez spoke about his family, and how he picked up English so quickly, and getting his high school diploma at 16 years old.

“The whole thing is pretty remarkable,” Servais said.

Most of what the Mariners have learned about Rodriguez since 2017, when he signed a minor league contract with the club as a 16-year-old international free agent, has been remarkable.

On the baseball field, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound outfielder has impressed since his first professional season with the Dominican Summer League Mariners in 2018, when he played in the league’s All-Star game and was named to the postseason All-Star team.

He turned even more heads last season, when despite missing a good chunk of the season with a fractured left hand, he still slashed at .462/.514/.738 with 26 doubles, four triples, 12 homers and 69 RBI in 84 games — and he hit even better at High-A Modesto, where he finished the season, than at Low-A West Virginia, where he started it.

Rodriguez was named California League Player of the Week during his 17-game stint with Modesto, is considered a top-25 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, and now soaking up every moment of his first big league camp.

“It’s been pretty cool, just being around all of those guys, having fun, doing what you like to do playing baseball,” he said.

But, the Mariners might be even more impressed with who Rodriguez is off the field.

“Certainly our fan base has heard the Julio Rodriguez name, there’s no question about it,” Servais said. “Julio’s got an infectious personality, is what I like to call it. You just want to be around him. He’s a very talented player.

“He’s the youngest guy in that room and he might have the biggest personality. … I think Julio is one that our fan base is really going to get to enjoy and wrap their arms around.”

Rodriguez walks around the clubhouse with a permanent smile, heckles his teammates playing ping pong, and jovially competes with his close friend Jarred Kelenic — another top outfield prospect in the organization — in batting practice.

“The funniest thing is we’re out here with guys that are older than us — not quite a lot older — and we’re trying to stay serious, but we’re still little kids,” Kelenic said. “We play video games. The first question (Julio) asks me when I leave the ballpark is, ‘Are you going to play Fortnight tonight?’ The answer is always yes.”

Rodriguez enjoys the time spent with friends, he said, whether it’s in the clubhouse, going to the mall or movies, or playing video games — he declares he’s better than Kelenic at Fortnight, and Kelenic concedes that is true.

Mariners center fielder Mallex Smith, who spent time with Rodriguez in the offseason, said the young outfielder isn’t quiet or timid around older players, and lets his personality shine through, which Smith appreciates.

“He’s just a big kid,” Smith said. “He’s enjoying the game the way you should. He’s relaxed. He firmly believes in himself and he has fun. This can be taken as a job, and it is, but it’s still a kid’s game.

“I feel like he has a really good balance of that.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 9:25 AM.

Lauren Smith

The News Tribune

360-754-5473

Lauren Smith is a sports reporter at The News Tribune. She has covered high school sports for TNT and The Olympian, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Washington Huskies. She is a graduate of UW and Emerald Ridge High School.