PEORIA, Ariz. – Virtually every Mariners executive, every pitching coach, every analyst and every fan at the facility gathered around the backstop at Field 2 to watch the premier batter vs. pitcher matchup of camp Monday morning.
It was Julio Rodriguez vs. Andrés Muñoz, and it was as good as it gets for a February “live” setting in spring training.
It was the first time Rodriguez had ever faced off against the Mariners’ All-Star closer.
And Rodriguez promised it would also be the last.
“Never again,” the Mariners’ star center fielder said, shaking his head.
In the first of his two at-bats against Muñoz, Rodriguez took a knee-buckling, first-pitch slider for a strike and eventually struck out swinging through a 2-2 fastball clocked at 100 mph.
In his second (and last) at-bat, Rodriguez got a first-pitch fastball and didn’t miss it, scalding it on a line to center field. The ball two-hopped the fence for a would-be double.
Rodriguez then playfully celebrated by spiking his bat as he walked back toward the dugout.
“It’s the first time I ever experienced that, and I told him, ‘First and last,’ ” Rodriguez said. “It was not comfortable at all.”
What did you see, Julio?
“Obviously an electric fastball and one of the best sliders I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rodriguez said. “‘Muñi’ is just that guy,.”
In the Mariners clubhouse a few minutes later, Rodriguez was still in awe, telling a handful of other Mariners hitters just how “nasty” Muñoz is.
Rodriguez made sure to tell Muñoz, too.
“He gave me good feedback of what he saw, and all the things that he told me were good things,” Muñoz said.
Here’s the kicker
Rodriguez did not see the one pitch from Muñoz that has had Mariners camp buzzing the past two days.
That would be the “kick changeup” that Muñoz learned from a video he saw on Instagram last week. He started playing catch with it late last week and threw it in a bullpen session for the first time Saturday, prompting pitching coach Pete Woodworth to label it the best pitch he’d ever seen.
Muñoz threw it two more times in the bullpen Monday while warming up for his “live” matchup on the field.
Catcher Blake Hunt caught the first changeup in the bullpen and immediately let out an “Oh my God” under his breath.
After facing Rodriguez on the field, Muñoz threw the change-up for the first time to a hitter – with Cade Marlowe standing in as the unlucky guinea pig.
Marlowe swung over the top of Muñoz’s first change-up, which registered at 91 mph and had a 6-inch vertical drop. (Muñoz eventually struck out Marlowe swinging over a backfoot slider).
“It’s good to have him on our side,” Marlowe said.
In Marlowe’s next at-bat, Muñoz threw one more kick change-up – but Marlowe took it for a ball below the strike zone. That change-up registered at 93 mph and a had a 4-inch drop. (The first change-up Muñoz threw in the bullpen Saturday was 91 mph and had a 10-inch drop.)
Hunt, Muñoz’s catcher for the day, said the kick change-up looks a lot like a split-fingered fastball. (It’s called a “kick change-up” because Muñoz kicks his middle finger slightly up when gripping the ball.)
“If he starts that thing in the (strike) zone, it’s unhittable,” Hunt said. “… It’s why he’s the best closer in the league.”
Muñoz again cautioned that it’s still too soon to tell how effective his new change-up might be going forward. He just learned the pitch a few days ago, and he still feels like he’s very much in an experimental stage with it.
But he’s certainly pleased with it so far.
“I’m pretty comfortable with it because I feel like it’s natural for me,” he said. “I just throw it like a fastball and let the grip do the work.”
More reps for Julio
Coaches had asked Rodriguez on Sunday if he wanted to face Muñoz the next morning, and Rodriguez agreed.
It’s part of the team’s plan to get Rodriguez – and other regulars – more plate appearances this spring in hopes of getting hitters better prepared for the start of the regular season.
“I’m trying to get more at-bats, trying to get more reps and prepare myself a little bit better to hit the ground running,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez was not in the lineup for the Mariners’ Cactus League road game against the Brewers on Monday afternoon. Facing his own teammates in “live” situations, he said, is more valuable.
“There isn’t any better training anywhere else in the league than with the pitchers we’ve got here,” he said.