Julio Rodríguez turns clubhouse disco into early power surge

DJ Julio Rodríguez has been spinning electronic music before Mariners games, and the fun hasn’t stayed in the side room. In 28 May games, he delivered a career-high month with 10 home runs, a .590 slugging line, and power that’s showing up from every angle—inc

SEATTLE—Before games, the Mariners’ clubhouse has a familiar hum: the usual playlist, the usual lights and routines. But lately, the sound has wandered into something weirder, louder, and unmistakably Rodríguez.

In a side room, Julio Rodríguez has been pumping electronic music from a turntable. The lights flash on and off, a disco ball twirls, and he’s been known to dance in an alien mask.

“That started last offseason,” Rodríguez said. “I bought this little mixer last offseason, and after the season was over, I started messing around a little bit. That’s what made me realize that DJs have a really tough job. It’s really tough being a DJ. So I started to learn. It was a little rocky at the beginning, but I started to have a lot of fun with it. I love music, and I think it’s a great hobby and something to do off the field. I’m liking it a lot.”.

His teammates have been fans of the new raves. And in baseball, results don’t have to be explained for long.

“There are some hitters that are really, really good at doing one thing. He’s really good at doing a bunch of different things,” Bryan Woo said. “I’ve talked to some of the other hitters and some of the veteran guys we have. and I’m like. ‘What does he do so well?’ And they’re like. ‘I could go down a list of a number of things.’”.

Rodríguez has often been the kind of player who turns a season’s page as May gives way to June, and in recent years that calendar flip has been a sign—his summer breakout getting close. In 2026, though, the breakout might not be waiting.

In 28 games in May, Rodríguez slashed .274/.309/.590. His 10 home runs were his most in a single month in his career. His .899 OPS was the seventh highest in the Major Leagues, and it was higher than all but three other months in his career (minimum 100 at-bats).

The months that sit near the top of that list—two Augusts (2023 and ‘25) and a June (‘22)—have generally been where his power shows up most. Those strong summers were more his standard. This spring has been, as he might put it, different as a clubhouse rave.

Before this season, Rodríguez’s highest single-month slugging percentage before June was .527. This May, he finished at .590.

When asked directly about his slower starts before, he didn’t dodge the subject. He pointed to the learning part.

“I feel like I don’t start this year like I did if I don’t have those years,” he said. “It’s always a learning process for everything, and everybody matures in a different way. Thanks to that, I’m able to feel better today.”

So far, his batted-ball trends offer a picture of why the power has arrived early. He’s keeping the ball off the ground. with a 42.2% ground-ball rate that’s on track to be the lowest of his career. At the same time, his 23.8% line-drive rate is on track to be the highest. He’s also pulling the ball in the air—generally the best combination for power—19.5% of the time. which is the highest clip of his career.

The last series of the month showed how quickly that approach can turn into damage.

In Friday’s series opener against the D-backs. Rodríguez started with a grounder to the left side that he legged out for an infield single. Then the swing shifted into another gear. He pulled a 113.6 mph shot with a 16-degree launch angle. It never got higher than 44 feet off the ground. and it didn’t land until it had cleared the dugout at the back of the bullpen in left field.

He followed it with a double down the left-field line that carried an exit velocity of 112.3 mph. It was the third game in his career in which he’d recorded two exit velocities over 112 mph. The other two both came in September—one in 2024 and one in 2025.

On Saturday, Rodríguez kept the momentum going: another home run to dead center gave him a homer in three straight games for the fourth time in his career, and he added a double the opposite way.

“I think I’m a really good hitter who can hit the ball to all fields on a line,” Rodríguez said. “But I’m also strong enough so I can hit those out. That’s what I’m trying to do on the field, just put a good swing on it and have a good approach.”

If he can keep producing at this rate, the Mariners’ clubhouse—and the games themselves—will have a lot more to rave about as May runs out.

Julio Rodríguez Mariners DJ May stats home runs OPS line-drive rate ground-ball rate D-backs series