‘I’m at home’: The J-Rod Show returns to the All-Star Game, this time for his home crowd
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2023 All-Star Game in Seattle
Seattle’s T-Mobile Park is the focus of the baseball world this week as MLB’s top players gather for the 2023 All-Star Game. The TNT sports staff brings you all the action.
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Behind his very own All-Star podium at T-Mobile Park on Monday afternoon, Julio Rodriguez was all smiles.
Even as the entourage of national media smothered him, Rodriguez was calm and collected. Over the next two days, Seattle will pack T-Mobile Park for Monday’s Home Run Derby and Tuesday’s All-Star Game. And the city’s eyes will be pasted on Rodriguez, a participant in both events.
“I’m at home,” Rodriguez said, seemingly unfazed. “There’s no pressure when you’re at home.”
The J-Rod Show has returned to the national stage. The 2022 Derby is where Rodriguez first introduced himself as one of the league’s faces, and where he launched 81 baseballs into the outfield bleachers at Dodger Stadium despite losing to Juan Soto in the final round.
Soto isn’t participating Monday, but Rodriguez can still seize revenge. It’s a tough road: J-Rod meets two-time derby winner Pete Alonso (Mets) in the bracket’s first round. Rodriguez must out-slug seven others in a head-to-head, single-elimination format to hoist the trophy at home.
“Last year (was) a really fun show for everybody,” Rodriguez told reporters. “I’m looking forward to (doing) it again … and putting on a show for the home crowd.”
Rodriguez has never shied away from bright lights and the grandest of stages, instead embracing them. He was touted as one of the league’s best prospects while blazing through the minor leagues, earning the “J-Rod Show” mantra before stepping foot on a major league field.
And yet expectations were matched in 2022, and then some. Following last year’s derby, where he blossomed from budding rookie to the ultimate dual-threat, Rodriguez continued an historic season that earned him the 2022 AL Rookie Award. He became the fastest player in MLB history to steal 25 bases and mash 25 homers (125 games), outpacing Mike Trout’s previous record (128).
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, announced as Tuesday’s All-Star starter for the American League, likes Rodriguez’s chances for a derby title.
“He’s got the home crowd,” Cole told reporters. “Julio has the characteristics of all great right-handed hitters. They take the fastball the opposite way with power, and (sit) on breaking balls to the pull side.
“Really good awareness of the strike zone. … Just a fun personality that I think his teammates really feed off of.”
In an empty Minute Maid Park in Houston last Saturday — ahead of Seattle’s clash with the Astros — J-Rod’s first derby practice went as expected. One after the next, baseballs began pelting the unoccupied outfield seats, Rodriguez’s swing effortless.
“It’s a hard thing to do,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais, also a coach on the American League All-Star roster. “I think some people (assume) … ‘Oh, just hit it over the fence.’ When you’ve got 50,000 people here, and I-don’t-know-how-many million are watching, it’s tougher than that.
“I just want him to have fun with it. I’m sure he will.”
Childhood friend Franmy Pena threw to Rodriguez in the 2022 derby and will do so again. The decision, Rodriguez said, was simple: “I decided to bring him back because you don’t change what works. We worked last year. It was fun last year. And at the same time, he’s my boy.”
Rodriguez was the first to announce his participation in the 2023 Derby at T-Mobile Park, though far from the first to be named an All-Star. It may be a down-year to his standards, but Rodriguez’s roughly-league-average hitting statistics initially left him off of the American League roster. Seattle ace Luis Castillo, at first, was the Mariners’ only All-Star.
Houston’s Yordan Alvarez will miss the All-Star Game with an oblique injury, which opened a coveted roster spot for Rodriguez, the hometown star. Also named as an injury replacement was Mariners starter George Kirby, his first nod in a fantastic sophomore season.
Rodriguez becomes the 25th derby contestant in his home ballpark, and now is just the third player in Mariners history to compete more than once, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Bret Boone. He could become the fourth player in MLB history to win the derby at his own stomping grounds.
“There’s been five-tool players for generations,” Servais said. “Julio is really talented … and I think we often forget that he’s 22 years old. I have to remind myself often of that, too.”
On Tuesday, he’ll again emerge from his usual home dugout in Seattle, this time representing his Mariners in the 93rd All-Star Game.
“I think the fans are going to be really happy to see us out there representing them,” Rodriguez said. “And I know they’re going to be really proud.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 2:46 PM with the headline "‘I’m at home’: The J-Rod Show returns to the All-Star Game, this time for his home crowd."
