No team in baseball did more to strengthen its lineup at the Trade Deadline than the Mariners, who added both Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor. Yet Seattle’s biggest second-half boost has come from within — more specifically, from the franchise’s cornerstone in center field, Julio Rodríguez. And if that feels familiar, it’s because it is.
It’s become an annual tradition in the Pacific Northwest: Rodríguez scuffles at the plate early on, then roars to life once the second half rolls around.
Those slow starts haven’t stopped him from earning three All-Star selections, nor have they prevented him from making history with four straight 20-20 seasons to begin his career. But make no mistake — there’s a stark difference between first-half J-Rod and second-half J-Rod, at least when it comes to his production with the bat.
All stats below are through Monday.
Largest difference in career wRC+ between first half and second half
Among active players, minimum 750 plate appearances in both halves
1. Michael Harris II: +63 points
2-T. Julio Rodríguez: +39 points (114 to 153)
2-T. Jorge Soler: +39 points
2-T. Seth Brown: +39 points
5-T. William Contreras: +30 points
5-T. Daulton Varsho: +30 points
Without exception, Rodríguez has been a significantly better hitter after the All-Star break in every year of his career.
Rodríguez debuted on Opening Day 2022 amid considerable hype as MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 overall prospect but needed some time to find his footing, slashing .240/.303/.322 with one home run over his first 33 games. Even so, he closed the first half with a 137 wRC+ — the highest pre-break mark of his career to date. But that was nothing compared to his torrid second half, when he ranked as MLB’s seventh-best hitter (min. 150 PAs) with a 170 wRC+ en route to the American League Rookie of the Year Award.
The outset of Year 2 brought more challenges. Rodríguez endured a prolonged slump in the first half and carried just a 105 wRC+ into the All-Star break. Once again, though, he flipped the switch in the second half, blasting 19 homers with a 158 wRC+ that ranked 13th among qualifiers. He ended up finishing fourth in the AL MVP race after recording his first 30-30 season.
Even in what was his least productive season, the pattern held. Rodríguez entered the break with another 105 wRC+ before rebounding to 137 in the second half. That included a furious .349/.386/.597 stretch with nine homers over his final 29 games as Seattle pushed for October, ultimately falling one game short of a playoff berth.
The script has repeated yet again. Rodríguez was roughly league average at the plate in the first half (109 wRC+) but has delivered a 146 wRC+ across 36 games since the All-Star break, powered by 11 homers.
Through four seasons, Rodríguez has recorded a collective 114 wRC+ before the All-Star break. While that’s certainly solid, especially when you consider the value he provides with his defense and baserunning, it doesn’t put him among the game’s upper echelon. That mark is tied for 60th in the first half over the past four years (min. 1,000 PAs).
But second-half J-Rod? He has been MLB’s fifth-best hitter after the All-Star break since 2022, with a 153 wRC+.
Highest cumulative wRC+ after All-Star break, since 2022
Min. 750 plate appearances in second half
1. Aaron Judge: 207
2. Shohei Ohtani: 173
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 157
4. Juan Soto: 155
5-T. Julio Rodríguez: 153
5-T. Freddie Freeman: 153
For Rodríguez, this isn’t just a matter of getting a few more hits to drop in per week or drawing more walks. More than anything, the reason second-half J-Rod ranks so highly on that leaderboard is because of his power output, which has tended to seriously increase after the All-Star break.
The 24-year-old has hit 53 home runs over 370 games in the first half during his career. In the second half? Almost the same number (52) in roughly half the games (191), fueling a 134-point increase in slugging percentage and a 98-point jump in isolated power. By comparison, his second-half gains in batting average (+36 points) and on-base percentage (+28 points) are relatively modest.
That kind of power spike doesn’t just happen by accident. It reflects a number of notable changes in Rodríguez’s profile, from how fast he swings to how much he makes contact to how often he barrels the ball, all skewing in favor of second-half J-Rod.
