Inside The Mariners

Mariners Manager Scott Servais Explains Moving Julio Rodriguez Down In the Lineup

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais discussed his reasoning for shifting star outfielder Julio Rodriguez down in the batting order ahead of Tuesday nights's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) hits an RBI single against the Miami Marlins last week.
Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) hits an RBI single against the Miami Marlins last week. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners elected to shake up the lineup and move franchise star Julio Rodriguez down to No. 7 in the order for Tuesday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

In an interview in the dugout before the series opener, Mariners manager Scott Servais said his decision was an effort to get some players going and give Rodriguez "a little bit of a breather."

Seventh is the lowest Rodriguez has hit all season. It's the second time in the last two months that he's been bumped down from top three to the bottom half of the order. The last time he got moved down was May 23 against the New York Yankees. He got pushed back to No. 6 in that game.

"We're trying to find certain ways to get players going — unlock them. Whatever you want to call it," Servais said. "Just giving him a breather, shaking up the lineup a little bit."

Rodriguez's last lineup demotion didn't pay any dividends for Seattle or for the center fielder. He went 0-for-4 and the Yankees won 5-0.

Rodriguez is coming off a rough month of June. In that month, he batted .206 with a .574 OPS and eight RBI. For the season, he is hitting just .247 with only seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 336 at-bats. He hit .284 as a rookie in 2022 with 28 home runs, and was .275 with 32 homers and 103 RBIs a year ago.

He is not the only one struggling. Out of 17 players to receive an at-bat for the Mariners in the last 30 days, just four of them (Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, Ryan Bliss, Victor Robles) hit above .250. Seattle most recently went 1-2 in a series loss against the Minnesota Twins where they went 5-for-32 with runners in scoring position.

Servais and the rest of the Seattle faithful will hope that this most recent move to bump Rodriguez down with get the Mariners' bats going.

Seattle will begin Game 1 of the three-game series against Baltimore at 6:40 p.m. PST today at T-Mobile Park.

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Teren Kowatsch

TEREN KOWATSCH

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