The Mariners voiced their displeasure with called third strikes against rookie Julio Rodriguez, first with a letter to MLB, and today with an ejection rant by manager Scott Servais:

“What’s going on with Julio Rodriguez right now, it is not right,” Servais said angrily after the game. “I sat at home for a week and watched it while I had COVID. It’s frustrating. I give all the credit in the world to Julio, not many people could handle things the way he has. He’s not barked back. He’s not changed his approach. He’s not chasing balls out of the strike zone, but it’s wrong. He’s (a) 21-year-old. Let the kid play.”

…

Per Statcast data on Baseball Savant, Rodriguez has had 10 called third strikes that are considered out of the strike zone. Servais believes there might be even more calls. Coming into Thursday, Rodriguez had taken 44 total called strikes in his plate appearances with 14 of those coming on pitches considered out of the strike zone by Statcast. He had two called strikes on him in Thursday’s game, which both registered out of the strike zone.

SeattleTimes.com

The article points out that other rookies have seen fewer missed calls. We’ll see what comes of this. The Rays took the game 2-1, so those missed calls might have made a difference.