Hiram Moreno
Great things were expected of Julio Rodríguez since he was in the minor leagues, and when the Seattle Mariners gave him the opportunity to play in the MLB, expectations only increased. So far, the Dominican has lived up to expectations and has even set a new record.
The Seattle Mariners can rub their hands together, as they seem to have a very good player in the organization. And this is a player who could come in handy not only for the future, as tongues have been wagging already in the Major Leagues.
During Monday’s game between the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, Julio Rodríguez once again made his presence felt by hitting a two-run homerun in the top of the fourth inning, which marked his fifteenth home run in this 2022 MLB campaign.
Julio Rodríguez has not only been knocking the ball out of the park, but his speed has also allowed him to steal a total of 20 bases so far. All this has allowed the player to become the player who has connected 15 homers and stolen 20 bases the fastest in history, needing only 81 games to achieve these records.
Thanks to this, Julio Rodríguez now surpassed other great baseball players in history in this category, with the top five who registered these numbers the fastest as follows.
| Player | Games needed |
| Julio Rodríguez | 81 |
| Ellis Burks | 82 |
| Kal Daniels | 88 |
| Barry Bonds | 90 |
| Eric Davis | 91 |
Not only that, but he also joined other modern superstars like Mike Trout and Ronald Acuña Jr. as one of those who achieved this before the age of 22, with the distinction that Julio achieved this in his first 81 games.
Julio Rodriguez on His Way to a Historic Season With the Seattle Mariners
With the Seattle Mariners‘ chances of reaching the postseason being quite low, Julio Rodríguez will surely be one of the stories to watch for the team this season.
Although the Dominican started the season rather cold, his batting average since the beginning of May is .300/.355/.555, and his 20 stolen bases rank him first in the American League in this statistic.
If he continues to perform like this, he has a good chance of joining the 30-30 club (30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a single season) in his rookie season. And that’s something that would surely place him as the best candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year honor, a distinction that he is currently battling side by side with Jeremy Peña, shortstop for the Houston Astros.
