Julio Rodriguez 2023 MLB Season Props: What Will Mariners Star Do As Sophomore?

It’s a bit unusual for a rookie in Major League Baseball to completely change a franchise’s fortunes in Year 1 because one baseball player doesn’t have the effect on a team/game like an NBA superstar or NFL quarterback can on his team/game.

However, the biggest reason by far why the Seattle Mariners in 2022 ended the longest active playoff drought in the majors was because of outfielder Julio Rodriguez, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year. In previous seasons, Rodriguez might not have made the Mariners out of spring camp for service-time reasons, but the new collective bargaining agreement has somewhat given teams less of a reason to keep top young players in the minors longer than they normally would.

After a slow start, Rodriguez adjusted to big-league pitching and led all MLB rookies in homers (28), Wins Above Replacement (6.0) OPS (.854), wRC+ (146) and total bases (260). He ranked second in slugging percentage (.509), RBIs (75), runs scored (84) and stolen bases (25) and finished third in hits (145). Rodriguez became the first player with at least 25 homers and 25 stolen bases in his debut season, and he was also the fastest (125 career games) to reach those feats, surpassing Angels star Mike Trout (128) when he won AL Rookie of the Year in 2012.

Rodriguez was so good that the Mariners already have given him a long-term massive extension. Let’s break down some various 2023 season props for Rodriguez at the top-rated sports betting sites. He did play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, going 5-for-18 with a double and three RBIs over four games, but the favored Team DR didn’t make it out of Pool D play.

To win AL MVP, Rodriguez is a +700 fourth favorite, while he’s +2000 to lead the majors in runs, +1200 to be tops in stolen bases, +1400 in hits, +3300 in RBIs and +4000 for most homers. J-Rod won’t win any of those if he can’t stay healthy after being limited to 132 game as a rookie, hitting the injured list in the second half of the season with a right wrist contusion and a lower back strain.

Seattle has had two AL MVPs, both future first-ballot Hall of Famers in Ken Griffey Jr. (1997) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) when Ichiro was also the AL Rookie of the Year. That 2001 season had been the last time Seattle reached the playoffs.

Rodriguez is given season over-under numbers of a .285 batting average (hit .284 last), with 155.5 hits, 30.5 homers, 89.5 RBIs, 95.5 runs scored and 22.5 steals – stolen base attempts are expected to rise dramatically in 2023 with the bigger bases and new pitch clock rules.

There are a handful of head-to-head most home run MLB betting props: Rodriguez against the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton (had 31 in 2022); against the Padres’ Juan Soto (27); against the Padres’ Manny Machado (32); against the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (35); and against the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt (35). Stanton, Betts and Goldschmidt are former league MVPs.