PHOTO USA Today Sports Image The Seattle Mariners have never made it to the World Series, but for decades they have led baseball for the most creative TV commercials.
There Felix Hernandez takes the mound as his alter ego, Larry Bernandez, wearing glasses and mutton chops, in order to get a second turn in the rotation.
Or Hall of Fame designated hitter Edgar Martinez at the hardware store making the lights come off the bat. “It’s a light bat,” Edgar said.
This year, center fielder Julio Rodriguez was seen flailing about the clubhouse in a pink fly swatter, swinging aimlessly as he heard the constant buzz.
Suddenly, a hand appeared from the corner of the screen, and the fly was caught between the thumb and index finger. The camera returns to show franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro crossed and tapped his arm, like Rodriguez did on the field after the catch, and said, “No fly zone, okay?”
At the end of the place, Rodriguez sits in a locker with several fly swatters of various colors that Ichiro catches and chucks to the floor, showing J-Rod again the technique to catch the fly between two fingers as young as possible. to copy the move.
The commercial was meant to portray Rodriguez’s defense.
Inadvertently, the spot reflects his struggles at the plate this season, circling the batter’s box as pitchers hit him fast and tight with fastballs and then deliver fastballs and far. Flyswatter or Victus Julio’s trademark wooden bat, the 2024 season amounts to a swing and a miss for Rodriguez.
The Mariners have spent the past two months in first place in the American League West, building a lead as big as 10 games, with the franchise cornerstone batting only .247 / .296 / .632 with eight homers and 30 RBIs as evidence. to the pitching staff.
Until now.
Cracks have started to form. Rodriguez went 6 for 55 without an extra base hit or RBI over a 13-game stretch in which the Mariners lost 10 times, which cut the AL West lead to two games over the six-time defending division champion Houston Astros.
“We need everyone to take and contribute offensively. It’s not just one person,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais, whose team batting MLB-worst .216 and on pace to threaten the record for most strikeouts in the season. “But Julio is the main guy.”
Rodriguez’s swing is starting to heat up in time for the Seattle Mariners. Photo source: Getty Images Rodriguez, a Silver Slugger Award winner in each of his first two seasons, has been working hard in the batting cage with M’s hitting coach Jarret DeHart, Martinez and Osvaldo Diaz, the personal trainer the team brought in recently from Tampa, Fla.
“We’re close,” Diaz told the Seattle Times. “The more eyes that can be found, the better. I have been with Julio for four or five years, before he became the Rookie of the Year (in 2022). He believes in me a lot. I like what we are building. I feel confident. “
Diaz said the coach’s brain trust has been working with J-Rod on his timing and balance and getting his legs more involved in his swing.
“Everybody’s going to have their ups and downs,” Diaz said. “It’s all about how you finish.”
Rodriguez has always been off to a slow start, but this season is more than halfway over.
The marine layer in Puget Sound has eroded. Mariners fans have begun to wonder if the major league pitchers have figured out Darling from the past two editions of the Home Run Derby – including last year at T-Mobile Park – and this is all they can expect from No. 44.
While it was relatively late, there was still time for Rodriguez to swing to the rescue.
They say summer in Seattle doesn’t start until the fourth of July.
In that case, there is hope for M and Rodriguez.
In the holiday matinee, Rodriguez hit a 428-foot homer off Orioles ace Corbin Burnes — on an 0-2 count, no less — and doubled to spark a tiebreaking five-run rally in the seventh inning in a 7-3 victory that snapped. Seattle’s four-game skid.
“Sometimes, you have to go through a difficult path to wake up,” said Rodriguez, who declined questions about the changes he’s made. “I just go out there competing. I don’t think about my swing or what happened in the last two months. You can’t do anything to change the past. You can only control the present. Just go out there competing my ass, that’s how I started playing this game .
After the double, Rodriguez stole third and jumped up, yelling and clapping his hands in frustration.
“It was contagious,” said Mariners shortstop JP Crawford, who broke a 2-2 tie moments later with a three-run double. “That got me going. I think the whole team was going. They fired everybody up.”
Added Servais: “We ask a lot of him. And I just want him to be himself. He doesn’t have to carry the team. It’s OK to show emotions. It’s OK if you don’t have a good game and stuff. That’s normal. And I hope today will ease him.
