Julio Rodríguez exists in a strange little shadow. It is there when the roof of T-Mobile Park is open and present when it is closed. It lingers when he homers just as it does when he strikes out.

At times in recent years — such as when he willed himself to hit 41 home runs for the hometown crowd in the first round of the 2023 Home Run Derby or when he made big changes to his swing after his second straight all-star season because he thought he could be better — his efforts to outrun it have been clear. At others, that shadow has dulled the twinkle in the eyes of the kid who electrified Seattle with his gleaming smile as a rookie in 2022.

Ironically, it is the shadow of that smiling, sparkling superman and the $200 million contract he signed that Rodríguez spent the past two seasons tryin

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