Mariners Activate Rookie Phenom & New Catcher; Both To Play Friday Night

He came into the season as one of the top two rookies in baseball. Julio Rodriguez has not disappointed. He leads all first-year players in nearly every statistical category, and before he went down with a sore wrist, had the Mariners on his back leading their charge back into the playoff race. 

Now, after being out since July 31st with a right wrist "contusion", J-Rod will be back in the lineup for the M's on Friday night. 

SOURCE: #Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez will return to the lineup tomorrow Friday at the start of the series against the #Rangers.@z101digital @ZDeportes pic.twitter.com/iQLuu2zCtt

— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 11, 2022

How important has he been for this team? Over his last 30 games, he'd hit 10 home runs, driven in 27 and scored 25, with a .945 OPS. And yes, despite the time missed, he's still the MLB rookie leader in several categories.

Julio Rodríguez still ranks 1st/T1st among MLB rookies in: home runs (18), RBI (57), XBH (39), total bases (176), bWAR (4.0), fWAR (3.1) & wRC+ (135).

— Alex Mayer (@alexmayer34) August 12, 2022

18 HR, 57 RBIs, 39 extra-base hits, 176 total bases, a 4.0 bWAR and 3.1 fWAR: Those numbers are tops or tied for top among rookies. 

The J-Rod Show is back on tonight for the Mariners.

They've also activated newly-acquired Curt Casali; he'd been on a rehab assignment recovering from an oblique strain suffered in July with the San Francisco Giants.