Julio Rodriguez Wins Baseball America's 2022 MLB Rookie of the Year

Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez is Baseball America’s 2022 Major League Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Mariner to ever win the award.

Rodriguez has hit .280/.342/.502 with 27 home runs and 25 stolen bases for Seattle this year. The 21-year-old's power and hitting ability has long been hinted at by his excellent production during his minor league career, but notably, he’s also gotten faster and faster. An average runner when he signed, Rodriguez adjusted to center field late in his minor league career. This year, he became the Mariners’ everyday center fielder while showing plus-plus speed.

Rodriguez is the cover subject of the next issue of Baseball America, which will include stories on our Major League Player of the Year, Minor League Player of the Year, Minor League Pitcher of the Year and MLB Rookie of the Year, as well as pieces on other players who came close to winning those awards.

People who want to purchase copies of the next issue can purchase them now.

Baseball America picks one Rookie of the Year for all of Major League Baseball each year. Our Rookie of the Year is weighted heavily toward production in a player's rookie season, but we also do attempt to slightly weigh future potential as part of the award as well.

Previous winners include Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna.

A complete list of Baseball America’s Rookie of the Year winners is included below.

Puerto Rico Beats Dominican Republic To Advance, But Loses Edwin Diaz To Injury

Puerto Rico beat the Dominican Republic, 5-2, to advance to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals, but closer Edwin Diaz was injured in the postgame celebration.