“No one’s ever done this before” - MLB insider compares Julio Rodriguez’s rise to legends Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre's journey to Cooperstown

Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez has been one of the hottest hitters in the league since the All-Star break in July. The 24-year-old outfielder etched his name in record books this week.

The Mariners outfielder smashed a home run off Jacob deGrom in a 5-4 win against the Texas Rangers on Sunday to take his tally to 20 home runs for the season. It also marked his fourth consecutive 20-20 season, becoming the first player in MLB history to reach the landmark in his first four major league seasons.

MLB insider Jon Morosi joined Seattle Sports to discuss the Mariners star's rise. Morosi likened Rodriguez's career trajectory with recent Hall of Fame inductees Adrian Beltre and Ichiro Suzuki.

"You could very easily see him becoming a Hall of Famer one day. This, this is what the start of a Hall of Fame career looks like, let's be honest about your points. No one's ever done this before, and if you compare what he has done at this point in his career, Adrian Beltre did not do it at this point in his career.

"In Ichiro's Hall of Fame career, he had played zero games in the major leagues at this age, right? So, consider just where, where Julio is, how young he still is."

Sunday's home run was the 100th homer of his career, becoming the third fastest Mariner to the feat behind teammate Cal Raleigh and MLB icon Alex Rodriguez.

Julio Rodriguez reflects on record-breaking performance against Rangers

Julio Rodriguez's home run against the Rangers on Sunday made him the third player to reach triple digits for home runs and stolen bases in their first four MLB seasons.

"That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez said. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Julio Rodriguez has 100 home runs and 107 steals for his career. The three-time All-Star drove in a run, going 2-for-5 against the Chicago White Sox in an 8-3 win on Monday.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash