Seattle Mariners Star Julio Rodriguez Continues to Rave About Edgar Martinez's Influence
The Seattle Mariners missed the playoffs this season, going 85-77 overall. It was the second consecutive year that the Mariners missed the playoffs, each time by one agonizing game.
The team's lack of offensive consistency is what really did them in, as the M's were largely punchless from April through mid-August.
However, in mid-August, the team replaced Scott Servais as manager and brought in franchise legend Edgar Martinez as hitting coach. Martinez, who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, had been in that role before and brought the team a newfound success over the final 34 games of the year.
Seattle went 21-13 in that time, putting together much better at-bats, reducing strikeout totals and hitting with more authority.
Specifically, Julio Rodriguez was much better after the change, which was a major development for the organization. Speaking with MLB.com recently, Rodriguez continued to speak glowingly of working with Martinez.
“I feel like Edgar was a really huge part of it,” Rodríguez said. “Just his experiences, his approach to the game. He just kind of brought the naturality of the whole team back. So I'm grateful that [the front office made the change] at the right time, and I'm looking forward to the future.”
In an interview last week, Julio Rodríguez was already looking ahead to the Mariners’ 2025 season.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) November 15, 2024
“I've had some time to reflect, and obviously there are some areas for improvement. But at the same time, we ended on a really good note as a team.”https://t.co/1zwp6GRDAm
The 23-year-old Rodriguez hit .273 for the season with 20 homers but hit .328 in September/October. The M's will hope he can build on that moving forward and carry more consistency into the 2025 season.
As for Martinez, it's unsure what his plans are for the 2025 season. He's expected to return in some capacity, but is not expected to carry the full-time hitting coach role. Rodriguez also indicated he will be happy to work with Martinez in any role.
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