BRONX, NY — 763 hits, 130 home runs, and 131 stolen bases over the first five years of his MLB career and at the young age of 25, Seattle Mariners superstar Julio Rodríguez is only getting better.
Known as “The J-Rod Show,” earning three career All-Star nods and two Silver Slugger Awards, Rodríguez’s baseball resume also includes winning the 2023 American League LatinoMVP and 2022 AL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year—the oldest and most prestigious awards earned by Latinos in Major League Baseball dating back to 1990.
And as he already knows the significance behind the LatinoMVP Award, known as a “Latin Grammy of Baseball,” J-Rod may soon be on his way to winning an actual Latin Grammy.
Julio Rodríguez presented with his LatinoMVP Awards from Latino Sports founder and president Julio Pabón along with Latino Sports’ exclusive LatinoMVP artists Maz Adams and James Fiorentino – Image Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
The proud native of Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic—continuing to give back to his hometown as well as the city of Seattle year-round through his No Limits Foundation with charity events, fundraisers and much more—picked up a new off-the-field hobby this past offseason.
DJing.
J-Rod The DJ.
Or as he’s deemed himself “DJ Pleno.”
“When we finished the season last year, I picked up this little habit of DJing,” Rodríguez recently said in an interview. “At the beginning, it was tough. I was like this is very difficult. I respect the DJs a lot more.”
From what fans are used to seeing out of The J-Rod Show, Julio Rodríguez was the star of a whole different type of show this past Friday night at T-Mobile Park – Image Credit: Seattle Mariners
From our previous conversations with Rodríguez—he always said he’d attempt to pick up new skills off-the-field—one being drawing and this was with him revealing his interest to Latino Sports as well as nationally acclaimed artist James Fiorentino, who crafts the AL and NL LatinoMVP Award each year, during J-Rod’s LatinoMVP Award presentation in 2023.
He even went as far as asking Fiorentino to help and teach him during the offseason(s) when the time is right.
“I went out to my friends spot (during the offseason) and I started seeing DJs and stuff like that and I was like, ‘man, I think this is really cool,’” he continued about his venture into DJing. “Like the way that they do it and formulating the idea and I was like, you know what, I’m going to continue to learn because at the beginning, I just bought it (equipment) and had it there and then I basically decided to learn after seeing some of the guys playing it.”
Julio Rodríguez is one of a few MLB players to recently jump into the music/entertainment scene with José Iglesias becoming Candelita, and Kenley Jansen and Miguel Rojas creating their own Music Labels – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
So, on a day where Rodríguez is not manning center field for Seattle and is behind the turntables, what could one imagine DJ Pleno jamming out to?
“It’s more house music, like opera house. I feel like at least for me it makes me feel like in a good mood. It makes me want to move my body and makes me feel like I’m having a really good time when I listen to that type of music.”
And where did the stage name DJ Pleno come from?
“That’s a word that kind of means ‘whole’ in Spanish. Like a person being whole. I really like that name for this different hobby, journey, persona or whatever.”
Rodríguez had taken a major step on his or let’s say DJ Pleno’s journey this past Friday night by making his DJ Debut at T-Mobile Park—performing a live set on the turntables during the Mariners’ Alumni Home Run Derby.
Julio Rodríguez also known as DJ Pleno snapping a selfie with fans at T-Mobile Park this past Friday night during his live set on the turntables – Image Credit: Seattle Mariners
This was after a 2-4 night vs. the Rays with a home run and nine innings played in center. For those curious on if it’s a concern of his balancing the baseball and off the field hobbies, Rodríguez responded:
“For me, I think it’s really important to have a hobby off the field. I play baseball every day and sometimes you can forget about that curious mind. Sometimes you can get comfortable into your zone and you feel like this is the knowledge you got. I feel like this definitely helped me out to open that spark again. Just to take my mind off the game, it’s a really good balance. I love playing baseball and I get ready every day, I love my routine, and I love getting better. But at the same time, it’s good to create a time where like okay, you put it aside and think of something else.”
If 2023 AL LatinoMVP and 2022 AL LatinoMVP ROTY Julio Rodríguez shows No Limits as a DJ like he does on the diamond, a Latin Grammy could be in the superstar’s future – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Although Rodríguez is indeed creating time for his new venture, he’s already finding some similarities in the two:
“Like anything, there’s an approach to things and I feel like being creative with it—finding your style and the things that you like to play—kinda like the same things you like in your own style of hitting. You know there’s a lot of similarities, the deeper you get into it and the different approaches, you can just kinda see it. It’s really cool.”
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
TikTok: @latino.sports
