FanPost Friday: Much ado about Julio

As Julio Rodríguez goes, so do the Mariners?

Hello and welcome back to FanPost Friday. Inspired by last week’s vibe check polls, I’ve decided to try to dig a bit deeper on how we’re feeling about Julio Rodríguez so far this season and why. This poll result from last week really stood out to me:

The other leading vote getters for most disappointing bat through 13 games were Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, and J.P. Crawford. As we discussed in the comments last week, no real conclusions can be drawn this early. But still, I find it really interesting that Julio has become this lightning rod for criticism among fans due to the combination of massive potential, high expectations, lucrative contract, large team-led marketing presence, and perhaps his own willingness to take on the challenge of being the “face” of the team and one of its leaders.

When your team’s star player is in a groove, it feels like most challenges in the game can be overcome or at least met. Baseball is still a game rife with luck and randomness, after all. But when your team’s star player struggles and there aren’t enough quality players to step in and fill the void, an unfair amount of blame gets heaped on the shoulders of the star player.

Some amount of blame always belongs to the players for not playing well enough to win, but the players do not assemble the teams or make decisions on payroll. Julio Rodríguez is an incredible talent, a Rookie of the Year winner who has an immensely high ceiling on what he will have accomplished by the end of his career. He is still in the early ascent of his stardom at 23 years old. Time and time again he has shown his commitment to constant improvement and to having a growth mindset. You can choose to be cynical about athletes posting memes about self-improvement if you want, but I’d rather see him posting stuff like this on social media than not see it, or just see flippant posts and sponsored materials.

Julio can’t win ball games all by himself. Can he perform better in high leverage situations? Always. Of course. Lest we forget already, this happened two weeks ago (for the first time!):

Have patience. Have a little faith. Believe me, I know it sucks to watch a beloved player struggle, or in many cases as Mariners fans, to watch a player with huge potential continue to fall short of it. I don’t think that is what is happening with Julio and don’t think it will continue to be an issue for most of his career. Time will tell.

But first, MORE POLLS OF COURSE:

In closing, check out Julio on this YouTube show called the Cut at 31:32 where he exudes casual confidence and good humor while hanging out with a few very famous athletes and musicians.

Have a great weekend!