Julio Yarnel Rodríguez Jr. (born December 29, 2000), nicknamed "J-Rod", is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB). He signed with the Mariners as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2017 and made his MLB debut in 2022. In his rookie season, he was named an All-Star along with winning the Silver Slugger Award and American League Rookie of the Year Award.

Early life

Rodriguez was born in Loma de Cabrera, a town of roughly 20,000 people, in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. He was raised in Loma de Cabrera with his three siblings. His father was an agricultural engineer and his mother was a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial co ...

. At ten years old, he began competing in a local baseball league with children three to four years older than himself. His father began coaching him at twelve years old, training him to play catcher because of his build. When he had a growth spurt the following year, he moved to the outfield. He first caught the attention of

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

when, at only twelve years old, he hit a ball to the wall against a hard-throwing seventeen-year-old pitcher in a local tournament.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Rodríguez signed with the

at 16 years of age as an international

in July 2017 for a bonus of $1.75 million. He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League Mariners in 2018, playing primarily

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

and batting .315/.404/.525 (7th in the league) with 50 runs, nine triples (tied for the league lead), five home runs, 36 RBI, and 10 stolen bases without being caught in 219 at-bats over 59 games. He was over three years younger than the average player in both leagues. He was named both a DSL mid-season All-Star and a ''Baseball America'' DSL All-Star. Rodríguez started 2019 with the Class A West Virginia Power in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. He missed part of the season with a fractured left hand. He was promoted to the Class A-Advanced Modesto Nuts in the California League in August, becoming one of only three 18-year-olds in all of minor league baseball to play High-A ball in 2019. Over 328 at-bats in 84 games between the two teams playing right field and center field, he slashed .326/.390/.540 with 63 runs, 26 doubles, 12 home runs and 69 RBI, and was 10th in the

with a .490 slugging percentage. He was named a California League Player of the Week on September 2, and an MiLB Organization All Star. In September 2019, he was the Mariners' No. 2 prospect, and the No. 25 prospect in baseball. Rodríguez played in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fi ...

for the Peoria Javelinas following the regular season, at 18 the youngest player in the AFL, and batted .288/.397/.365 in 52 at-bats. He was named an AFL Rising Star. In May 2021, Rodriguez started to play with the

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is affiliated with the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seating capacity ...

. After a few months, he was promoted to the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeed ...

. Rodríguez was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National Le ...

. In August 2021, he was ranked No. 1 on the Mariners prospect list and No. 2 on the MLB top 100 prospect list. The Mariners added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2021 season.

Seattle Mariners

2022 season: AL Rookie of the Year

Rodríguez made his major league debut on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

, April 8,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, as the starting center fielder versus the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

. After starting the season 1-for-21 with 12 strikeouts, Rodríguez took off. On May 1, Rodríguez hit his first career home run, a three-run shot off

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

ace Sandy Alcántara. He was named American League (AL) Rookie of the Month consecutively for May and June 2022. In June, he played 29 games, scored 22 runs, and hit .280/.361/.542 with seven home runs, 16 RBI, and five stolen bases. Rodríguez kept up his great performance in July, during a stretch in which the Mariners won 14 consecutive games and jumped into playoff discussions. On July 15, he hit his first career grand slam to put a game against the Texas Rangers out of reach. In July, he played 19 games, scored 12 runs, and hit .267/.337/.547 with five home runs, 18 RBI, and two stolen bases. He however did not win Rookie of the Month in July with the award going to Jose Miranda who put up superior numbers. Rodríguez was selected to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game roster, making him the sixth Mariners rookie to do so. Rodríguez also participated in the Home Run Derby, where he hit 81 home runs across three rounds, and placed second behind Juan Soto. During a game on August 23 against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadi ...

, Rodríguez hit his 20th home run of the 2022 season, making him the sixth player in Seattle Mariners history to join the 20–20 club, and the fourth player in MLB history to do so in their first MLB season. On September 14, he became the first player to join the 25–25 club in his debut season. On August 26, Rodríguez signed a 14-year contract extension worth up to $400 million with the Mariners. In 2022, Rodríguez batted .284/.345/.509 (8th in the AL) with 84 runs, 28 home runs, 75 RBI, 25 steals (fifth), and 140 strikeouts in 511 at-bats, with a 26.4 power-speed number (second), while leading the AL outfielders in both range factor/9 innings (2.88) and errors (6). At 21 years of age, he was the youngest qualified batter in major league baseball. Rodríguez won the Silver Slugger Award and the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

2023 season

On April 7, 2023, Rodríguez hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the sixth inning against the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. With this home run, Rodríguez became the fastest player in Mariners history to 30 home runs, doing so in 140 games. On July 10, Rodríguez hit 41 homers in the first round of the Home Run Derby against Pete Alonso, breaking the Derby record for most home runs in a single round. In August, Rodríguez went on a tear at the plate that equaled or surpassed marks not achieved since the early 20th century. From August 16 to 19, Rodríguez broke the MLB record for most hits in a four-game span with 17, the most since at least 1901. During those four games, Rodríguez went 17-for-22, hit 2 home runs, recorded 8 runs-batted-in, and stole 5 bags. He had 28 hits in 10 games, a number not reached since

Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Lofton was a six-time All-Star (1994–1999), four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1993–1996), and at retirement, was ranked 15th amon ...

in 1997, and during that stretch had 5 four-hit games, not recorded as having happened since 1900. Further, he had a total of 5 four-hit games during the month; only

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the la ...

, with 6 in 1921, had more. In early September, he became the first player in MLB history to record 25 home runs and 25 steals in his first two seasons. On September 11, 2023, Rodríguez hit his 30th home run of the season, making him the 44th player to join MLB's

30–30 club In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 30–30 club is the group of batters who have collected thirty home runs and thirty stolen bases in a single season. Ken Williams was the first to achieve this, doing so in 1922. He remained the sole membe ...

. In 2023, Rodríguez batted .275/.333/.485 with 32 home runs and 37 stolen bases and led the AL in infield hits (29). He won his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award while also being a finalist for the AL

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

in center field. He finished fourth place in the AL Most Valuable Player voting.

Personal life

Rodríguez says he's motivated by anime. In his childhood, he would run home from school to watch ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. ...

''. As a rookie, Rodríguez wore a chain featuring title character

Naruto Uzumaki () is the titular protagonist of the manga ''Naruto'', created by Masashi Kishimoto. As the series progresses, he is a young ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village). The villagers ridicule and ostracize Naruto on ...

on the reverse as a reminder to "always see the bright side of things" and "never give up." Rodríguez began dating Canadian professional soccer player Jordyn Huitema in November 2022. In January 2023, Rodríguez donated an

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

to his hometown's civil defense headquarters. Prior to his donation, the town did not have an ambulance for emergencies. He also gifted baseball equipment and toys to the children in his hometown.

Awards and accolades

*Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Rookie (2022) *2× Silver Slugger Award (AL Outfielder, 2022–23) * Rookie of the Year Award (AL Outfielder, 2022) * All-MLB Second Team (AL Outfielder, 2022)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Julio 2000 births Living people American League All-Stars Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Mariners players Everett AquaSox players Leones del Escogido players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Modesto Nuts players Olympic baseball players for the Dominican Republic Olympic bronze medalists for the Dominican Republic Olympic medalists in baseball People from Dajabón Province Peoria Javelinas players Seattle Mariners players Silver Slugger Award winners West Virginia Power players 2023 World Baseball Classic players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic