SEATTLE -- The world already knew Julio Rodríguez, the remarkably gifted baseball talent who shines with as much flair as any player in the sport.
But now, it is being introduced to the emerging alter ego of the Mariners’ center fielder -- one with another captivating skill beginning to blossom.
“DJ Pleno.”
J-Rod reintroduced himself to Seattle’s fanbase in a dramatically new way earlier this month, when he performed a live DJ set under neon lights beyond left-center field during the club’s Alumni Home Run Derby.
Basically, he brought young flavor to an event headlined by old-timers -- transforming the T-Mobile Pen into a proxy night club, as countless fans lingered until near midnight, when the event finally finished.
“He has that special charisma,” Ichiro Suzuki said that night, through his longtime interpreter, Allen Turner. “He's just got this talent about him that he can make people around him happy. And so I was glad to see him out there, and I think he would be the only one that could do something like that.”
As MLB embarks on Players' Weekend -- a league initiative that celebrates on-field personas, off-the-field interests, charitable efforts and more -- Rodríguez shared his story on the “DJ Pleno” origins, and where he intends to take it.
Curiosity with intention
Rodríguez has relished the spotlight dating back to his teenage years as a precious prospect, when he became one of Seattle's most recognizable players well before he debuted in 2022.
Yet, there are endless layers to his persona that he purposefully keeps private.
He has an intentionality to self-reflection that’s pretty profound for being just 25 years old, and much of this happens well out of the public eye.
“If everything surrounds baseball, it can feel difficult sometimes,” Rodríguez said.
His DJing actually began behind closed doors, too.
Shortly after the Mariners were eliminated in last year’s playoffs, Rodríguez could only stay stationary for so long.
This is a guy, after all, from a small town in the Dominican Republic, who has spent each of the past few winters traveling to Japan and Europe for weeks at a time simply to see the world.
Before his latest international voyage, Rodríguez -- out of sheer curiosity -- ordered a basic DJ turntable on Amazon and began practicing at his Seattle-area home. He’d never played in any capacity to that point, but has always had an attachment to music.
“It was so hard,” Rodríguez said. “I didn’t know what any of the buttons did.”
At first, he thought his equipment was "sick.” But? “Obviously it was not,” he joked, after being heckled by friends with DJ experience.
So, he ordered more gear -- and with practice came precision.
Rodríguez doesn’t have a specific routine for when he hops on the tracks, but rather, when motivation manifests organically. It’s usually in the mornings before heading to the ballpark, but his favorite time is after day games at home, when Seattle features sunlight beyond 9 p.m. PT.
His genre of choice is house music, and Martin Garrix is his guy; Black Coffee, too.
By Spring Training, Rodríguez began showing teammates. He’ll occasionally break out his tracks in the clubhouse. But the Alumni Derby was far and away the largest crowd he’s ever performed to, which carried similar jitters to making his first day in The Show.
“I thought it was sick that they actually received it well,” Rodríguez said. “It was definitely an incredible feeling, just kind of setting the vibe for the people and just making them feel super excited.”
The stage name
During his annual offseason trip home to the D.R. -- which this year included a massive refurbishing to the fields he grew up playing on -- Rodríguez began telling more friends about his new hobby.
And naturally, they all wondered what he’d call himself.
It was during a conversation with a childhood friend away from baseball, Londry, where the alias’ inspiration first surfaced, at Londry’s suggestion.
“It's such a powerful, short, concrete word that I just thought it was perfect,” Rodríguez said.
Spanish "pleno" comes from Latin plēnus, meaning “full, filled, complete, abundant.” It’s a description of being in the primness of life with fulfillment.
And just as important to Rodríguez, the moniker is completely independent of his on-field career.
“I wanted it to be its own thing,” Rodríguez said, “Not like ‘The 44’ or, like, something that's so baseball-related.
“Especially when I started DJing and doing all those things, I came from a good place. I was feeling good with where I was at in life, with my baseball career -- just with my life in general. And it felt like such a fitting thing for me, and, like, I just feel like that's what I want to contribute to the people.
“For them to feel good, for them to feel whole and to do whatever they actually want to do that fulfills them. And that's kind of the message that I want to leave them to carry and live with that name, too.”
The parallels to baseball
Rodríguez joked that every pulse-pounding beat he dropped during the Derby had similar emotions to firing up a home crowd after a big moment in the batter’s box.
“It felt like I was just hitting a home run every time,” Rodríguez said, breaking into that megawatt grin.
Again, this hobby has grown into a passion to share with people. But it was birthed through such intricate individuality.
“It's something that before I never really had a hobby hobby like that,” Rodríguez said. “And I found it really important, at least for me this year, to be incorporated like that, because there's just so much I can do for baseball. And sometimes, I have experienced that you can feel a little burnt out by the game.”
He’s also drawn from his baseball beginnings as he embarks on his DJ frontier.
“I've been playing baseball my whole life, and there might be things that I take for granted or things that I don't even think about anymore because I'm far along the road,” Rodríguez said. “But [DJing is] something that I'm just starting.
“You remember all those struggles in the beginning of things, and then it kind of helps you appreciate even more how far I've come in this sport -- like, playing in the big leagues against the best competition in the world.
“That’s kind of what brought me back, kind of into my roots. It’s helping me just continue to evaluate even my own process of baseball.”
What’s next
Julio has a humility about all this, but also ambition.
He recalled a recent conversation with Ed Sheeran, who visited T-Mobile Park out of his own curiosity for baseball earlier this month, before his show across the street at Lumen Field. During that confab, Rodríguez told the four-time Grammy Award winner about his emerging hobby.
“You’ve just got to continue to do it,” Sheeran said. “Because sometimes, even your friends, they're not going to like it. And like, that’s fine. But the more you continue to do it, continue to do it, continue to do it, then you eventually will get good at it.”
Rodríguez isn't sure what heights he can reach with his new hobby, and that he’s “just going with it."
But he added that he eventually wants to produce his own music, beyond mixing up others’. He’d also like to continue performing in front of larger crowds, and even hinted that he may have something up his sleeve for this offseason.
"There is a love for the continuous improvement," Rodríguez said. "There is a fearless approach to it. ... Being creative, being open-minded in things and seeing things from people through a different perspective."