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Julio Rodriguez 2023 MLB Player Outlook: A Five Category Stud With An Unmatched Ceiling
2 years agoSeattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez walked away with the Rookie of the Year Award easily after posting a sweet .282/.343/.505 slash line while adding 28 homers and 25 steals. Now we have an uber-talented player at the age of 22 with an improving lineup behind him, and he's already shown the ability to dominate Major League pitching. He swings the bat with incredible force (117.2 max exit velocity, 51% hard-hit rate) and limits the strikeout enough (26% K%) to post great numbers all across the board. The one thing to note is that his base stealing slowed down significantly after a hot start to the year in that category. He swiped nine bases in April, and then five more in each of May and June, but then just two per month the rest of the way out. There's some doubt that he'll be a 30-steals guy next year because of that, but there should be little doubt that this is a guy who hit a ton of homers, score a bunch of runs, and steal more than enough bases while maintaining a strong batting average. The risk is always slightly higher with a less proven hitter, but everything in the profile suggests that it is safe to draft Rodriguez in the early first round next year. The sky is the limit with this kid.
