Brady's Spin: Julio Rodriguez Had an At-Bat on Thursday That Made Me Downright Sad

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez stepped to the plate against Brock Stewart. Like you, I had hoped that Rodriguez could hit a game-tying home run to score J.P. Crawford, but instead, Rodriguez swung through a one-strike fastball and a two-strike fastball.

Two, run-of-the-mill 95 mph fastballs, essentially down the middle, piped right past your most talented player. I've focused a lot this season on Rodriguez's approach, and I've been frustrated by it a lot too, but on Thursday, I just wasn't.

In fact, a different wave of emotions came over me: Sadness. Sadness that a great player, who has been an All-Star twice by the age of 24, looks so lost at the plate, so often, that an average fastball from a mid-level bullpen arm, could make him look so helpless.

I discussed more of this on the recent Refuse To Lose podcast, which came out on Friday:

Okay? The ​approach, ​I ​believe, ​is ​a ​huge ​part ​of ​it. ​What ​are ​you ​looking ​for ​and ​when ​are ​you ​looking ​for ​it? ​I ​believe ​that ​to ​be ​a ​huge ​thing. ​And for ​Julio, ​very ​clearly ​right ​now, ​I ​think ​the ​answer ​to ​those ​questions ​is, ​'I ​don't ​know.' ​He ​doesn't. ​He's ​not ​on ​time ​for ​the ​fastball. ​It's ​like ​he's ​not ​expecting ​it. ​He's ​missing ​it ​a ​lot ​of ​the ​time, when ​he's ​getting ​it. He's ​chasing ​the ​other ​pitches. ​The ​discipline ​is ​not there. ​It ​feels ​like ​Julio ​is ​guessing ​at ​the ​play ​more ​often ​than ​not.

You can listen to more of my thoughts on that at-bat and my emotions from it in the podcast player below:

The Mariners will play the Texas Rangers on Friday at 5:05 p.m. PT.