Mariners Moose Tracks, 9/24/22: Julio Rodríguez, Albert Pujols, and Andrew McCutchen

Yesterday was a big day for milestones — just not the one everyone thought we’d get.

Hello folks and happy Saturday! Here’s what’s happening in the world of baseball.

In Mariners news...

• Greg Bishop at Sports Illustrated wrote the feature story on Julio Rodríguez and his magical rookie season that even his most fervent supporters could only have dreamed of.
• Mikey Ajeto at Baseball Prospectus dove into the statistics behind Jesse Winker’s recent struggles. ($)
• Mason McCoy became the first-ever member of the Tacoma Rainiers 20-20 club.

Around the league...

• The big news yesterday was Albert Pujols hitting homers No. 699 & 700 in the same game against the Dodgers, likely his final benchmark before he officially retires.
• Not to be outdone, Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen knocked in his 1,000th career RBI in yesterday’s contest.
• The closer entrance is now an art form and the closers are the artists, writes Jeff Passan in his latest piece at ESPN.
• Byron Buxton is set to undergo season-ending knee surgery.
• In a public interview, Barry Bonds urged Aaron Judge to break Bonds’ home run record, then sign with the Giants in the offseason (also, check that byline!).
• Pretty immature moment here from Gerrit Cole.

Anders’ picks...

• James Earl Jones has signed over the rights to voice Darth Vader in future properties, signaling the end of an era for the legendary voice actor.