This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It was early enough on Sunday morning that the smell of coffee was strong. Most players were still filing in on getaway day. Julio Rodríguez had his headphones in, but he paused briefly and smiled when asked a specific question about if his bat-to-ball uptick the past few weeks would lead to what had been mostly missing in his offensive game: homers.

“That’s definitely going to be the next step, for sure,” Rodríguez said.

Hours later, Rodríguez was back at that locker again, answering questions after reaching base five times via one walk and a career-high four hits -- capped by a huge, game-tying homer that sparked Seattle to an 8-7 win. The deep fly was just the second of his young career, yet both of those homers underscored that when he does find that power stroke consistently, it could be a huge run-production boost for the Mariners.

Sunday’s solo shot left Rodríguez’s bat at 114 mph, a mark that had been reached by just five other Mariners in the Statcast era (since 2015), including Jarred Kelenic earlier this year. Rodríguez’s power profile -- and the fact that he wasn’t even hunting a homer in that 3-2 count -- suggests that he won’t be hitting cheapies.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I was just trying to shoot it to the right side, right-center field,” Rodríguez said. “It wasn’t my two-strike approach on that one, but I was able to get my barrel out and drive it. That’s basically what you’re trying to do with two strikes. If you’re able to get it out there, usually, you’re going to be able to react to it. But my thought process was to drive it to center field.”

The power will come, as Sunday showed. Yet what has stood out more over the past few weeks, albeit in a far less flashy way, is that he has such strong strike-zone awareness, and that he’s remained true to his approach despite a huge number of called strikeouts on pitches outside the zone. Rodríguez was rung up for an MLB-high 10 such calls and zero since Mariners manager Scott Servais was ejected on April 28 arguing on the rookie’s behalf.

For example, he took a six-pitch walk from Carlos Carrasco that loaded the bases and set up Mike Ford to immediately follow with a two-run single. Who knows if those chase pitches would’ve been called in the past -- the important component is that Rodríguez stayed disciplined.

“I feel like it was crucial because if you start getting out of your way or out of what you know, you’re going to experience some things that you’ve never experienced before,” Rodríguez said. “But I feel like me, just staying who I am, I feel like that’s what’s allowed me to all around play better.”

There have still been some glaring learning curves for the 21-year-old, notably a baserunning blunder on Sunday, when he attempted his 11th stolen base but was doubled up after Ford had popped out to right field as he was sliding into second. Rodríguez charged to third when he saw the ball in the outfield, but didn’t realize that it was a popout. It was another learning experience.

There will continue to be many, but it’s been an upward-trending start.