Mariners star Rodriguez named AL Rookie of Year

Julio Rodriguez grew up successful Loma de Cabrera, a tiny Dominican municipality of astir 20,000 located adjacent the Haitian border. Before him, the lone salient shot subordinate from determination was Rafael Furcal, an All-Star shortstop done the 2000s.

Rodriguez looked up to Furcal arsenic a kid. He remembers the parade that the metropolis organized for him and each the fanfare that came with it. Now Rodriguez volition get 1 of his own. When the Seattle Mariners' dynamic young halfway fielder returns location this offseason, a parade volition instrumentality spot successful his honor. It volition beryllium a vacation successful his hometown.

"It's gonna beryllium beauteous exciting," Rodriguez said, smiling. "I'm decidedly going to effort to bask it."

Rodriguez was named the American League Rookie of the Year successful near-unanimous manner connected Monday, a fitting headdress to a stirring run that saw him dazzle astatine the Home Run Derby, execute among the sport's champion players and propel the Mariners to a long-awaited travel to the playoffs.

Rodriguez received 29 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman receiving the other. Cleveland Guardians near fielder Steven Kwan, Kansas City Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. and Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena finished third, 4th and fifth, respectively, successful the voting.

Rodriguez, 21, electrified the metropolis of Seattle and captivated an full federation of shot fans with his youthful exuberance, pronounced swagger and wide-ranging talent. He slashed .284/.345/.509, starring each rookies successful homers (28), OPS (.855) and full bases (260) portion helping the Mariners clinch their archetypal postseason berth since 2001, snapping the longest progressive drought among the 4 large North American nonrecreational sports.

Along the way, Rodriguez consistently came done successful large spots, dazzling with his defense, powerfulness and speed. His 5.3 FanGraphs wins supra replacement tied that of Rutschman for the rookie pb and was topped by lone 21 presumption players passim the sport.

Rodriguez, who added 25 stolen bases and 25 doubles, is present the 5th Mariners subordinate to triumph rookie of the year, aft Alvin Davis (1984), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Kyle Lewis (2020).

Only 2 different players since 1900 person accumulated astatine slightest 28 location runs, 25 stolen bases and 25 doubles successful their age-21-or-younger seasons -- Mike Trout and Andruw Jones. Rodriguez is the archetypal subordinate ever to harvester 25 location runs with 25 stolen bases successful his archetypal play successful the large leagues and the 3rd to bash truthful portion inactive rookie eligible, on with Trout and Chris Young, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

The Mariners envisioned Rodriguez arsenic a imaginable prima erstwhile they signed him retired of the Dominican Republic for $1.75 cardinal successful the summertime of 2017, but helium profiled much arsenic a power-hitting country outfielder. Rodriguez worked to crook himself into a five-tool halfway fielder, zooming done the Mariners' insignificant league strategy -- contempt losing an full play to the COVID-19 pandemic successful 2020 -- and cracking the team's Opening Day roster this spring.

Before the extremity of August, the Mariners rewarded Rodriguez with a semipermanent hold that volition wage him anyplace betwixt $210 cardinal and $470 cardinal implicit the beingness of his career, an unprecedented -- and highly incentivized -- declaration for idiosyncratic with little than a afloat twelvemonth of large league work time. But earlier each that came struggle. Rodriguez went homerless with a .544 OPS during his archetypal period successful the large leagues. But helium recovered good capable to go the lone rookie to marque the All-Star team.

"I consciousness similar that's erstwhile I learned the astir -- connected the down parts," Rodriguez said during a video league with the media aft winning the award. "That unsmooth commencement to the beginning, whenever I possibly was not doing truthful good, each those things that happened that archetypal twelvemonth that benignant of opened my eyes -- I'm gonna instrumentality each that. And I cognize it's gonna service maine good on my career."