PHOTO USA In the present day Sports activities Photos The Seattle Mariners have by no means been to the World Sequence, however for many years they’ve led baseball for many artistic TV commercials.
There was Felix Hernandez taking the mound as his alter ego, Larry Bernandez, carrying glasses and mutton chops, with the intention to get a second flip within the rotation.
Or Corridor of Fame designated hitter Edgar Martinez in a ironmongery shop making a lamp out of a bat. “It’s a light-weight bat,” The Edgar exclaimed.
This 12 months, heart fielder Julio Rodriguez is seen flailing concerning the clubhouse with a pink fly swatter, swinging aimlessly whereas listening to a persistent buzz.
All of a sudden, a hand seems from the nook of the display, and the fly is caught between a thumb and index finger. The digital camera pans again to indicate franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro crosses and faucets his arms, like Rodriguez does within the subject after making a catch, and says, “No fly zone, huh?”
On the finish of the spot, Rodriguez sits at his locker with a handful of various-colored fly swatters that Ichiro grabs and chucks to the ground, displaying J-Rod once more his approach for catching a fly between his two fingers till the teenager is ready to copy the transfer.
The business was supposed as an instance Rodriguez’s protection.
Inadvertently, the spot foreshadowed struggles on the plate this season, lunging across the batter’s field as pitchers busted him excessive and tight with fastballs after which delivered a bevy of breaking pitches low and away. Flyswatter or trademarked Victus Julio wood bat, the 2024 season is amounting to a swing and a miss for Rodriguez.
That the Mariners have spent the previous two months in first place within the American League West, constructing a lead as giant as 10 video games, with their franchise cornerstone batting simply .247/.296/.632 with eight homers and 30 RBIs is a testomony to their pitching workers.
Till now.
Cracks have begun to kind. Rodriguez went 6 for 55 with out an extra-base hit nor an RBI over a 13-game stretch by which the Mariners misplaced 10 instances, their AL West lead reduce to 2 video games over the six-time defending division champion Houston Astros.
“We’d like all people to select it up and contribute offensively. It’s not only one man,” mentioned Mariners supervisor Scott Servais, whose crew is batting an MLB-worst .216 and is on tempo to threaten the report for many strikeouts in a season. “However Julio is the principle man.”
Rodriguez’s swing is beginning to warmth up simply in time for the Seattle Mariners. Photograph supply: Getty Photos Rodriguez, a Silver Slugger Award winner in every of his first two seasons, has been working tirelessly within the batting cage with M’s hitting coach Jarret DeHart, Martinez and Osvaldo Diaz, his private coach whom the crew introduced in lately from Tampa, Fla.
“We’re shut,” Diaz informed The Seattle Instances. “The extra eyes they’ll get on board, the higher it’s. I’ve been with Julio for 4 or 5 years already, earlier than he was Rookie of the Yr (in 2022). He trusts me rather a lot. I like what we’re constructing towards. I really feel assured.”
Diaz mentioned the teaching mind belief has been working with J-Rod on his timing and steadiness and to get his legs extra concerned in his swing.
“Everyone’s going to have ups and downs,” Diaz mentioned. “It’s all about the way you end.”
Rodriguez has at all times been a sluggish starter, however the season is greater than midway over.
The marine layer off Puget Sound has worn off. Mariners followers have began to marvel if major-league pitchers have found out the darling of the previous two editions of the Residence Run Derby—together with final 12 months at T-Cellular Park — and that is all they’ll anticipate from No. 44.
Whereas it’s comparatively late, there’s nonetheless time for Rodriguez to swing to the rescue.
They are saying summer time in Seattle doesn’t start till the Fourth of July.
In that case, there’s hope for the M’s and Rodriguez.
In a vacation matinee, Rodriguez hit a 428-foot homer off Orioles ace Corbin Burnes — on an 0-2 rely, no much less — and doubled to spark a tiebreaking five-run rally within the seventh inning in a 7-3 victory that snapped Seattle’s four-game skid.
“Generally you gotta undergo robust stretches to wake the hell up,” mentioned Rodriguez, who deflected questions on any adjustments he had made. “I used to be simply on the market competing. I wasn’t actually excited about my swing or what occurred up to now two months. You possibly can’t do something to vary the previous. The one factor you may management is correct now. Simply going on the market competing my ass off, sort of how I began taking part in this recreation.”
Following his double, Rodriguez stole third and jumped to his toes, letting out a yell and clapping his palms because the pent-up frustration poured out.
“It was contagious,” mentioned Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, who broke a 2-2 tie moments later with a three-run double. “It received me going for positive. I believe it received the entire crew going. He fired everybody up.”
Added Servais: “We ask lots of him. And I simply need him to be him. He doesn’t have to hold the crew. It’s OK to indicate emotion. It’s OK to get pissed off whenever you don’t have a very good recreation and issues like that. That’s regular. And hopefully at present will lighten issues up for him.”
