Last week, Julio Rodríguez went through a seven-game stretch without striking out, more than double the second-longest such stretch of his career. And even before that streak started, Julio was already running the lowest strikeout rate of his career. For several years, we’ve wondered what parts of the stratosphere Julio might reach if he just lowered his strikeout rate. We’re seeing it, and the result is an xwOBA of .360,* which would indeed be a career best by a meaningful margin. A .256 BABIP—an implausibly low number for someone who both hits the ball hard and runs fast—is keeping us from seeing the results yet, but there’s a lot of promise in what Julio is doing right now.
Julio Rodríguez is here to hit
