Julio Rodriguez was ready for the group of reporters awaiting him just outside the Arkansas Travelers' clubhouse Tuesday afternoon.
It's part of the routine when you're a 20-year-old consensus top-five prospect getting that much closer to reaching the big leagues. Over the last two minor-league seasons, Rodriguez has played for four different clubs and twice been promoted midseason.
The transition isn't supposed to be easy. And yet Rodriguez, who was undoubtedly the league's best hitter during his stint at High-A Everett (.310 average with a .992 OPS), has made the move to North Little Rock look simple.
He logged a pair of hits in his first night in Tulsa last week, then followed it up with his first homer and three more hits in a doubleheader Friday.
And Rodriguez made sure to have an impact in his home debut, reaching base three times and scoring the night's first run as the Travs took the series opener 3-0 against the Frisco RoughRiders at Dickey-Stephens Park. Alejandro Requena threw six innings of two-hit ball to lead the way, and the bullpen trio of Moises Gomez, Nick Duron and Darin Gillies backed him to finish off the shutout.
Although the Travs managed four hits of their own, a towering 420-foot shot from Josh Morgan in the bottom of the fourth inning staked the hosts to a lead, and they were never really in danger of losing it.
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"It's pretty easy for me because I know everybody here," Rodriguez said of his promotion to Arkansas. "I can get along, but between the levels playing-wise, it's about getting adjusted to the different things they might try to do [at Class AA]. I noticed right away that they pounded the zone a lot, which I like. ... That's the biggest thing that popped out at me."
Rodriguez took advantage of that in his first at-bat, swinging away on the very first pitch he saw and lining a single the other way into right field.
Then, after drawing a walk his next time up, Rodriguez swiped a bag, putting himself in scoring position with no outs. It didn't matter -- he came across to score on Morgan's two-run homer -- but the fact that the young outfielder was willing to take a chance running on a first-pitch fastball was a reminder that he doesn't lack for trust in his game.
"Confidence is everything for every player," Travs center fielder Stephen Wrenn said. "[Julio] looks confident, he carries himself well for such a young guy."
Rodriguez batted third for the Dominican Republic as his nation's team qualified for the Olympics not even two weeks ago. Then on the same day he made his Class AA debut, Rodriguez was named to the American League's Futures Game roster -- he'll be in Colorado this weekend to compete alongside nearly all of baseball's top prospects.
In a few weeks, he'll be in Tokyo competing at the Olympics as the Dominican squad looks to earn a first-ever baseball medal.
So when a line drive headed to right field in the top of the third inning, and Rodriguez initially misread it, he could have easily panicked.
Instead, Rodriguez moved back to his right, went into a slide, picked the ball off the dirt and threw back to first to catch the runner trying to tag up for an inning-ending double-play.
Simple, right?
That's what the budding star known as J-Rod wants you to think.
"I'm always [happy]," he said. "At the end of the day, it's just baseball, you've got to understand that. Whenever you don't realize that, that's when you get into trouble."