In a surprising move, the struggling Seattle Mariners superstar, Julio Rodríguez, has been dropped to sixth in the lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Yankees. This comes as a blow to Rodríguez, who is in the second year of a lucrative contract extension that could be worth almost $200 million.

Rodríguez's offensive woes have stood out in the struggling Mariners' lineup. Despite back-to-back top-10 finishes in the AL MVP balloting, the young outfielder has failed to live up to expectations this season. Of his 49 starts, Rodríguez has primarily batted second in Scott Servais' lineup, with only four appearances as the leadoff hitter.

The Mariners' decision to move Rodríguez down in the lineup is particularly significant considering the team's struggles to score runs. Currently, Seattle's offense ranks near the bottom in the American League in terms of runs scored, making this move even more striking.

So far in the 2024 season, Rodríguez has been underperforming at the plate with a slash line of .263/.311/.318. He has managed just two home runs in 98 at-bats, resulting in an OPS+ of 86. An OPS+ below 100 indicates that Rodríguez's park-adjusted OPS is 14% worse than the league-average mark. This is a significant drop compared to his career OPS+ of 136 in his first two seasons with the Mariners, where he performed 36% better than the league mean.

To provide some context, Rodríguez's struggles are demonstrated by the fact that among the 64 MLB players with 200 plate appearances, he ranks lower in terms of performance. The young star will need to find his stride once again in order to regain his status as one of the most compelling young players in the game.

As the Mariners face the Yankees in the series finale, all eyes will be on Rodríguez to see how he responds to this lineup change. The team will be hoping for an offensive spark from their young superstar, as they look to climb the ranks in the highly competitive American League.

Only time will tell if this lineup adjustment will help Rodríguez break out of his slump and provide the much-needed boost to the Mariners' struggling offense. Mariners' fans will be anxiously waiting to see if the talented outfielder can regain his previous form and lead the team to victory.