HOUSTON — There have been so many memorable moments for Julio Rodriguez this season that it’s difficult to single out only one.
But here’s one, in the context of Tuesday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series, that is particularly notable.
Of course, Rodriguez said Monday, he remembers fondly the home run he hit against Houston’s Justin Verlander on May 27. It happened at T-Mobile Park on the first pitch the Mariners’ rookie center fielder saw from Verlander that day, a 95 mph fastball at the top of the zone.
Rodriguez barreled it 101 mph off the bat, 359 feet over the wall in right field, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning in what turned out to be the worst start of Verlander’s remarkable 2022 season.
What happened next was just as memorable for Rodriguez.
After he was able to retrieve the home-run ball, Rodriguez had a clubhouse attendant take it over to the visitors’ clubhouse a day or two later with a special request for Houston’s ace. Could you please sign this for Julio?
Verlander obliged and inscribed a congratulatory note on the home run. His closing line, “Hopefully it’s the last one off me.”
That’s not something, one would imagine, Verlander has done for many rookies in his illustrious career. Rodriguez was 4 years old when Verlander made his major-league debut in 2005.
“It was amazing that he agreed to it,” Rodriguez said Monday inside the Minute Maid Park visitors’ clubhouse. “But I was happy he signed it and sent it back to me.”
It’s safe to assume Verlander won’t have anything nice to say to Rodriguez, or anyone wearing Mariners colors, Tuesday afternoon.
Rodriguez will be the first batter to step in the box — with his trademark jump, skip and a hop — before Verlander’s first pitch, scheduled for 12:37 p.m. PT for a TBS broadcast.
They’ve become plenty familiar with each other already, the Mariners’ 21-year-old wunderkind and the Astros’ 39-year-old future Hall of Famer.
When reminded of his home run off Verlander on Monday, Rodriguez was quick to point out what had happened in their first meeting April 16.
“He struck me out many times in the beginning,” Rodriguez said.
Indeed, Verlander struck out Rodriguez three times in that April 16 game in Seattle, a 4-0 victory for the Astros.
In six starts against the Mariners this season, Verlander went 5-1 with a 2.34 earned-run average and 43 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. Rodriguez had four hits in 16 at-bats with six strikeouts against Verlander.
Overall, Verlander finished 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings after missing all of 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s the overwhelming favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award for the third time in his career.
“Man, it was amazing facing him,” Rodriguez said. “He was one of the guys I look up to, one of the great pitchers in the game. … I feel like, if you don’t give credit to that guy, you’re being ignorant, you know. He’s just one of those guys, you’ve got to give them respect. You’ve got to go out there and compete with them, but you’ve got to give them respect.”
In the Mariners’ lone win against Verlander this season — that May 27 game at T-Mobile Park — they hit four home runs, one each from Rodriguez, Ty France, Taylor Trammell and Kyle Lewis.
Verlander allowed season highs in hits (10) and earned runs (6) that day. He gave up just 23 hits in his other five starts vs. Seattle. He did not allow another multi home-run game to anyone the rest of the season, and he hasn’t allowed a single home run in his last 10 starts dating back to July 23.
“Justin Verlander, I mean, what can you say?” Mariners manager Scott Servais said Monday. “Unbelievable Hall of Fame-type career. On top of his game. Maybe better than he’s ever been most recently. We certainly have seen him a lot through the years, and he’s not slowing down, unfortunately for us.”
Verlander’s last start against the Mariners on July 29, when he allowed only one run in 7 2/3 innings in the Astros’ 11-1 win in Houston.
Verlander said Monday that the Mariners are a different team now in the playoffs.
“Their lineup is really good,” he said. “They never give in, as you saw in the series against Toronto. They grind out at-bats. They don’t make it easy. Obviously, they’re playing good baseball right now.
“So having seen them a lot, it’s interesting. I don’t know how that really plays out, but an in-division rival at this point in the year, we know each other so intimately, it makes it interesting.”
Rodriguez and the Mariners, coming off a wild-card series sweep in Toronto, hope to continue their surprising postseason run.
“[Verlander is] really a tough guy. We’ve definitely got to put the work in against him and compete,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what he’s going to do against us, and that’s what we’re going to do.”