The Seattle Mariners will meet the Los Angeles Angels to begin a three-game weekend series on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif., hoping they get the version of outfielder Julio Rodriguez that was an All-Star in his first two major league seasons.
Rodriguez has had a rough season by comparison in 2024, but there are thoughts that his bat will come to life in the final month of the regular season as the Mariners make a playoff push.
In his first two seasons, Rodriguez averaged 30 homers, 89 RBIs and 31 stolen bases with a .279 average and .834 OPS. But entering Friday’s game he’s hitting .253 with 12 homers, 42 RBIs, 18 stolen bases and a .670 OPS.
He missed 16 games from July 22 to Aug. 10 with a high ankle sprain and struggled when he returned. But his home run Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays — his first homer since July 20 — gave him confidence that the mechanical adjustments he’s been working on will make a difference.
“Once you are working with something and then you see it play out in the game, it makes you feel really good,” Rodriguez, 23, said, “because it shows you that you’re kind of on the right track. And just it kind of motivates you to continue to work at it.”
Also a potential difference-maker is the hiring of Mariners legend Edgar Martinez, a career .312 hitter, as the club’s hitting coach a week ago.
“Really helpful,” Rodriguez said of Martinez. “I feel like he has so much experience as a hitter. Obviously, like one of the best to ever do it — a Hall of Famer and everything. He’s somebody I respect a lot. And he just has a lot of good pointers. And I’m happy that, obviously, I listen, but I’m happy that he’s around.”
Right-hander George Kirby (9-10, 3.48 ERA), who will make his 28th start of the season Friday for Seattle, is coming off a 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants in his most recent start, allowing three runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings last Saturday. He is 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels, who ended a seven-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
While the Mariners are still in hunt for a playoff spot — they are four games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West — the Angels are out of it and giving many of their prospects playing time. That includes left-hander Sam Aldegheri, who will join the Angels from Double-A Rocket City and become the first pitcher born and raised in Italy to play in the majors on Friday.
The Angels acquired Aldegheri, 22, as part of the trade-deadline deal last month that sent reliever Carlos Estevez to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Another of the youngsters to get a look from the Angels is first baseman/DH Niko Kavadas, who was part of the July trade with the Boston Red Sox for reliever Luis Garcia.
Kavadas, 25, hit .264 with 19 homers, 67 RBIs and a .921 OPS splitting time between Triple-A Worcester (Red Sox) and Salt Lake (Angels), but has struggled since being called up Aug. 16. He’s hitting .100 (3-for-30) with 17 strikeouts in 10 games.
His first major league hit was a three-run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday, but it came in the ninth inning, and by the time Blue Jays personnel were able to get to the left-field seats, the fan who got the ball had already left the ballpark. Kavadas had planned to give the ball from his first hit to his dad, Jim.
“I thought he was going to be really disappointed,” Kavadas said of his father. “And he said, ‘I couldn’t care less about the ball. It was an epic moment, and I’m so happy for you.'”
The next day, however, the fan who caught the ball contacted the Blue Jays and wanted to give the ball to Kavadas, who has since retrieved it.
“It’s someone who kind of gets it, who understands what it takes to get there and what that ball means to me and my family,” Kavadas said of the fan. “It’s awesome.”
–Field Level Media
