This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- We¡¯ve all seen the elite five tools that Julio Rodríguez possesses over this breakout season. But one both intangible and perhaps unexpected surfaced during Sunday¡¯s epic walk-off win over the Braves:

Leadership.

The telecast caught Rodr¨ªguez smiling when running in from center field in the middle of the ninth inning, just after Paul Sewald gave up a go-ahead homer and just before Rodr¨ªguez tied the game with his own blast, an expression of supreme confidence that a comeback by his doing was looming.

But what went unseen on cameras was the 21-year-old approaching a disheartened Sewald -- 11 years his elder, head firmly in hands, looking at the cracked sunflower seeds on the ground while sitting on the bench -- and declared to him that Seattle would storm back and win.

¡°When you have your head down, it¡¯s hard to see what¡¯s going on,¡± Sewald said. ¡°It was pretty deflating that we had this big lead and every game matters for us; to feel like you blew it, it was tough.¡±?

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After Rodr¨ªguez reassured the beleaguered reliever, he rallied the dugout and gave the same message, but louder.

¡°Even whenever someone is down, we all kind of have that brotherhood that, ¡®If you don¡¯t do it, I¡¯m going to help you out,¡¯¡± Rodr¨ªguez said. ¡°¡¯I¡¯m going to pick you up.¡¯ It¡¯s pretty cool what we have on this team right now.¡±

Then came the actual at-bat and executing on his proclamations.?

¡°At that moment, I just felt like I needed to deliver for the team,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said. ¡°I needed to get something going. It doesn¡¯t matter what it is. I feel like I had to put the work in that at-bat.¡±?

That sounds easier said than done. How was he able to harness the emotions given the weight of the game¡¯s stakes?

¡°You trust yourself,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said. ¡°I feel like that's why I'm able to manage my emotions, because I know what I¡¯ve got. I know that I¡¯ve put the work in, all the things that I¡¯ve been through. That¡¯s why I feel like I just let everything happen on the field.¡±

Leadership is a complicated attribute, especially in baseball. It often dictates that a player has extended experience, which Rodr¨ªguez doesn¡¯t possess, having only been in the Majors for five months. And if not, it certainly requires tangible production on the field, and he¡¯s already shown that credibility in this AL Rookie of the Year Award-worthy season. Perhaps just as vital -- and a reason why some of the very best players fall shy from leading -- is that it requires personality.

Rodr¨ªguez is exhibiting it all at an incredibly ripe age.

¡°The 21-year-old thing is crazy,¡± Sewald said. ¡°It's just crazy to be that mature like that and that much of a leader already. People just gravitate towards him. That¡¯s the kind of person he is. I¡¯m glad he¡¯s on our team.¡±?

Leadership is also about environment. The Mariners have created an atmosphere that allows Rodr¨ªguez¡¯s personality to flourish. Dollars aside, it¡¯s a?huge reason why he signed the megadeal and intends to spend his entire career here.?

¡°Man, I¡¯m just happy that they let me be who I am,¡± Rodr¨ªguez said. ¡°They know that at the end of the day, I¡¯m playing for them. I know they¡¯re playing for each other here. We¡¯re all playing for each other, and that¡¯s a good thing to have.¡±?

And that moment in which the rookie reassured Sewald might be the first of many.

¡°That game is the ultimate definition of ¡®team,¡¯¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°When somebody struggles, other guys have got to pick them up, and that's what we saw.¡±