2022 Pacific Northwest Sports Top 10: Number 7 – Julio Rodriguez
2022 spring training was short, and as such, each team’s evaluation period was cut shorter. In 34 at-bats, Julio hit .412 with a 1.039 OPS. This made the decision easy for M’s Manager Scott Servais, though he waited until spring training was complete. Thus Julio had joined fellow top prospects Bobby Witt Jr. and Spencer Torkelson as rookies on opening day. The race to be 2022 American League Rookie of the Year was on.
Success was tough in the beginning. The young centerfielder also had some tough calls go against him. In addition, veteran fielders took advantage of J-Rod’s youthful exuberance, and it put him in some awkward positions. He’s been faked out on the bases multiple times instead of picking up third base coach Manny Acta. But that’s why they’re called rookie mistakes, and Rodriguez is a rookie.
He struck out at least one time in 18 of his first 20 MLB games. During that same stretch, he struck out multiple times in 7 April games. It was a brutal start as the rookie couldn’t hit a breaking pitch to save his life. Thankfully his life wasn’t on the line.
In addition, he had 14 called-strike threes on pitches that were clearly outside the zone. A combination of bad luck and bad calls added to his struggle. A lesser person might have buckled, but Julio Rodriguez is wired differently.
Working on answering some mailbag questions and did some statcast research on Baseball Savant … Here are the called third strikes on Julio Rodriguez this season. pic.twitter.com/r3rdF28Dn9
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) April 19, 2022