Ever since he made his big league debut in 2022, outfielder Julio Rodriguez has established himself as one of the top talents in the majors and one of the Seattle Mariners' most important players. Though he is a fan favorite at T-Mobile Park, he does have his fair share of critics, who often compare him to stars like Bobby Witt Jr. and Corbin Carroll, two players who also made their debuts around the time when Rodriguez made his. Speaking about such comparisons when he appeared on Monday's episode of "Seattle Sports", insider Jeff Passan defended Rodriguez, claiming he is still quite a valuable player in his own right. "For all of the frustration that Julio [Rodriguez] has caused, it's worth remembering that this guy has been consistently much better than the average center fielder," Passan said (Timestamp- 13:15 onwards). "Now, because the expectations that accompanied him when he arrived, better than the average center fielder tends not to be the metric by which they want to measure things. You want to measure how Julio compares to Bobby Witt Jr. and how Julio compares to Corbin Carroll. "How does he compare with the contemporaries with whom he ascended to the big leagues? At this point, he's not either of them. But, that's okay. He plays excellent defense in center field, he hits home runs, he steals bases. Does he have weaknesses? Yes. Can those weaknesses be overcome? Yes. Is he going to overcome those weaknesses? To be determined. But, in the meantime, I think focusing on the things he doesn't do well is wrong," he added. Julio Rodriguez hits 100th career home run in crucial victory against Texas Rangers With the Houston Astros well-placed to win the division, the best chance of making it to the playoffs for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers is via the AL Wild Card. The two teams faced off over the weekend in a pivotal four-game series that could have season-defining implications.In the series finale on Sunday, the Mariners ended up registering a crucial victory that ensured they would take three out of four games against their rivals. A lot of the credit for the big win went to center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Alongside being important in the context of the game, Rodriguez's dinger was also quite special for the Dominican on a personal level, as it was the 100th home run of his career.