Hard-Working Rodriguez Could Be No. 1 Wunderkind

So far, so fast.

So physically gifted.

And so mature.

Alex Rodriguez could have been excused had he pouted like the teenager he was over his Seattle-today, Tacoma-tomorrow existence. Again and again, he bobbed between the Mariners and the team's Class AAA farm club last season.

Instead, he accepted his fate and did his best under trying circumstances.

Now 20, the Mariner shortstop could have accepted the job that was handed to him at the beginning of this season, eased up and done nothing to enhance his stature.

Instead, he adopted an early-to-work regimen, first at spring training, where he honed his considerable fielding skills, and now as one of Coach Lee Elia's most intense students of hitting.

The result is a package so complete that Baseball America has identified Rodriguez as No. 4 on a list of major-league baseball's top wunderkinder 25 years old or younger

As the leader of the quality quartet in batting average (.293), runs batted in (15) and runs scored (12), a case could be made that he now is No. 1.

"It's incredible for a guy his age to make the jumps he's made as easy as he's made them," said Roger Jongewaard, Mariner vice president for scouting and player development.

Before Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day disabled list when he suffered a strained hamstring muscle Sunday, he had gone 15 for 39 (.385) while hitting safely in nine of 11 games.

Signed by Seattle in 1993 after graduating from Westminster Christian High School in Miami, Rodriguez is at least a year ahead of what Jongewaard thought possible.

"Maybe a year-plus, because he was up before this year," Jongewaard said.

What a year.

In 1995, Rodriguez began the season in Tacoma. What followed was an up-and-down situation Jongewaard called "the toughest thing in baseball - to be back and forth and in and out of the lineup and not know your role."

In 54 games with Tacoma, Rodriguez batted .360, with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. In 48 games with Seattle, he batted .232 with five home runs and 19 RBI.

"One thing about last year, I never took it personal," Rodriguez said. "I realized we had four infielders here. Luis (Sojo) did a great job. We had Felix (Fermin). We had Joey (Cora).

"So no matter what I did - I could have been hitting .400 - I still would have been going south on I-5. So I never took it personal. I went about my business. I hit .360 in AAA and never let it affect me.

"So with that in mind, I felt I was a big-league player last year."

Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said Rodriguez benefited from the major-league experience last year and a little bit at the end of the 1994 season.

"That's a big edge for a young player," Piniella said.

"Last year, he was here for the last six weeks of the season when we were really playing well . . . and he learned a lot. Experience is the name of this business."

Being established as the starting shortstop probably helped him get off to his fast start this year.

"I think it helps, knowing I'm going to be out there every day," Rodriguez said.

"The most important thing for me is daily work. I'm busting my rear end every day. I'm in here at 3 o'clock. I was in at 7 in the morning in spring training.

"So I think that's what's paying off. Whether I'm hitting .200 or .400 I don't feel bad, because I'm working hard."

In addition to his work ethic and maturity, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Rodriguez has bundles of the most important ingredient - talent.

"He's a big shortstop, but he has such good body control and coordination and his tools are so strong," Jongewaard said. "We grade out five tools: running, throwing, fielding, hitting and hitting with power. He's a five-tool player."

And he's only 20.

"I never think about being 20," Rodriguez said. "Only when you guys (reporters) remind me. I feel like I'm 25. I try to act it and be a professional and go about my business and work hard."

So far, so good.