Even Though He Lost The Home Run Derby, Julio Rodriguez Showed Us Why He Is Going To Be A HUGE Star
Juan Soto may have won the Derby last night but we all know Julio Rodriguez won the night. There are probably some casual baseball fans who didn't really know who Julio Rodriguez was going into last night, and that's okay. Not everyone consumes baseball 24/7, but there is no doubt that after his performance last night people know who he is now. He put himself on the map as a league wide superstar and not just a talented kid who plays in Seattle. He didn't seem nervous on the big stage with all those other huge names....except for when he swung and missed at the very first pitch. Audibly laughed at that part, but after the swinging strike he took off.
32 bombs in the first round, thanks for coming out Corey Seager. MLB.Com said it was 2.54 miles of home runs, by far the most in the first round. J-Rod made quick work of Seager and then had to take on Pete Alonso, the man who literally eats, sleeps, and breathes home run derbies.
If you thought Rodriguez was going to be intimidated by Pete you were wrong. Rodriguez came out blazing again and took down Alonso in a very easy match, 31-23. Even Alonso had nothing for J-Rod. Now Alonso knows what it feels like when you are down 30 something bombs before you step in the box, can't be easy to come back from that. Especially when you see the towering shots that J-Rod was hitting.
Very easy swing, not that violent, but still very powerful. Powerful enough for 63 homers in 2 rounds which is laugh out loud funny for a rookie in his first derby. We've seen veterans put up goose eggs, Julio was out for blood on the first pitch. MLB.Com also said that entering this derby there had only been 4 total rounds of over 30 homers, Julio did it twice in his first two rounds. He quite literally is built different.
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I think by the end he was gassed, hit 18 homers and lost by 1 to Juan Soto which is nothing to be disappointed in. The 81 homers are the second most homers in a derby ever, and he hit over 33,000 feet of bombs, both were second to Vlad Jr in 2019. Just an insane performance by Julio.
It was also awesome to see Ken Griffey Jr there with his camera, he is a professional photographer now. He was dialed in on Julio and they got some cool shots of him taking pictures of the future of the Mariners.
One face of the franchise celebrating the next face of the franchise, pretty neat moment. Nothing to hang your head about if you're J-Rod. The guy is a legit superstar and last night was a hell of a coming out party.