3 sluggers who deserves All-Star spot over Julio Rodriguez ft. George Springer

For the third time in his four-year career, Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez has been named to the American League All-Star team. The 24-year-old got the nod as an outfield reserve alongside Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

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Rodriguez's inclusion, however, didn't come without a hitch. Fans' eyebrows were raised upon the announcement of J-Rod's inclusion, as many stated that stats-wise, there are a plethora of outfield talents who have had a better season than the Mariners star.

At the time of writing, J-Rod has posted a .247/.305/.391 slash line with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. For context, the outfield star batted .273 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs last year — a season wherein he failed to make the All-Star squad.

With that in mind, here are three batters who are performing better than Rodriguez and can be tagged as a "snub" for this year's All-Star game.

Three batters who deserve an All-Star spot over Julio Rodriguez

1) George Springer - Toronto Blue Jays

Four-time All-Star and World Series title-winning outfielder/designated hitter George Springer has spearheaded the Blue Jays' run to the top of the AL East standings in what can be labeled as a career rejuvenation.

The 35-year-old is currently batting .280 with an OPS of .884 to go alongside 16 home runs and 53 RBIs. Per Baseball Savant, Springer belongs to the 95th percentile in terms of batting run value — a far cry from Julio Rodriguez's 24th percentile standing. Springer has been lights out in July with a .412 BA and five home runs in just 34 at-bats.

2) Cody Bellinger - New York Yankees

Former NL MVP and a World Series-winning outfielder in his own right, Cody Bellinger has been instrumental in his maiden season for the Yankees. Bellinger has impressed across the board with his consistent defense paired with firepower on offense.

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The outfield star is currently on a 14-game hit streak at the time of writing. He's also batting .281/.337/.427 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs. While Rodriguez's defense is more solid in terms of metrics, Bellinger's consistent offense gives the latter an edge in All-Star selection conversations.

3) Randy Arozarena - Seattle Mariners

An uncomfortable argument can be made that Rodriguez might not even be the top-performing outfielder in the Mariners' dugout, as his teammate Randy Arozarena has posted better stats so far.

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The high-intensity outfielder is tied with Rodriguez in terms of RBIs and batting average at 44 and .247, respectively. However, Arozarena has tallied more home runs at 15 and OPS at .802 compared to J-Rod this year.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago