LOS ANGELES — If there’s one adjective Julio Rodríguez’s peers like to use to describe him, it’s “electric.”
There are others that get thrown out—”impressive,” “incredible,” “always in the highlight reel”—but “electric” is the most frequent. That was true before the 21-year-old rookie stole the show during Monday night’s Home Run Derby, even if he was eventually edged out by Juan Soto in the final. Not even an 0-for-2 night on Tuesday could damper the impact he made on observers this week. Now that Seattle’s center fielder has grabbed the game’s attention, it’s hard to imagine him ever surrendering it.
“It was amazing,” said White Sox closer Liam Hendriks before Tuesday’s All-Star Game. “You see how easy some of those homers were, you see the swings … I just love the personality and the vibe he brings. It’s something that I think this game needs more of. It needs more personalities. It needs more people with bat tosses and screaming and all this sort of stuff.”
