THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Julio's swing is still missing in action

What are you thinking when Julio Rodriguez strikes out again?

Or hits a routine hopper to short, ending an inning and killing a rally?

You KNOW that Julio has to hit, and do real damage, if the Mariners are going to make a serious run at winning the AL West.

Simply treading water, and hoping that everyone else in the division will drown is not a very solid plan.

Yep, it’s nice that the Mariners are hanging on to the division lead — despite being just three games over .500 after getting stuffed into a 5-0 coma by the Yankees on Thursday afternoon.

All things considered, being 3-4 so far on this East Coast road swing to Baltimore, the Bronx and on to Washington isn’t all that embarrassing.

There’s a cloud hanging over this team, though, and everyone knows it.

Julio is still missing.

Sasquatch has been sighted more often in the past two months.

Each week that rolls past, with the Mariners star chipping in with a few singles and maybe a stolen base — but contributing nothing loud or violent — is an opportunity that has slipped away.

The Mariners could see some glorious daylight back to Texas and Houston if they were hitting.

WHEN I said “they” in that previous sentence about hitting, of course I meant Julio.

It’s simple: When he gets banging, the whole team follows.

Mitch Garver, signed in the offseason to be a thumping DH, so far hasn’t delivered what he expected.

Garver played for Texas last year, and watched from a distance when J-Rod would light up the Mariners.

Now, Mitch would like to follow one of those explosions.

“Once we get Julio going and he’s driving the ball out of the yard, I mean, that’s a good thing for us because he’s kind of a sparkplug for this team,” Garver said.

Julio hasn’t struggled to this degree at any time in his two-plus seasons as a major leaguer.

When he has hit bumps previously, it’s come from getting a little fast and loose with the strike zone.

The Mariners and everyone else — including the rest of MLB — has felt from the beginning that if Julio swings at strikes, he will deliver rockets.

Only chasing splitters in the dirt or sweepers way outside seemed to slow him down, and that came because he wants so desperately to hit.

But when he’s patient, he crushes baseballs.

It turns out there is a little more to Julio’s current slump than just pitch selection (although that’s always lurking in the background).

In fact, Julio’s swing has gone funky.

For one thing, he still hits plenty of balls that leave the bat over 100 miles per hour.

Without getting too technical here, his launch angle has dipped below a level that you’d need to hit a fly ball.

Non-scientific explanation: You can’t hit a home run if contact with the ball occurs with the bat still heading downward.

THAT issue needs a fix if Julio is going to get the ball back in the air.

So does his timing.

Julio has been working with the Mariners’ hitting instructors — on a pitching machine and with live batting practice — in an attempt to time up swings with balls in the zone.

“We need to see Julio back to hitting the ball out in front,” said manager Scott Servais. “When he gets it out there, he’s electric.”

One problem is that Julio’s swing begins with a cocking motion way behind his head, and if it goes too far, he can’t get the barrel back fast enough to hit the ball at the “front” of his swing.

“If you can hit a fastball, you can hit anything,” Julio said, by way of explaining those hours in the cage.

“I need to be on the fastball, then adjust from there — swing or not, stay back to hit something off speed.

“That’s something I’ve been struggling with.”

There are reasons for hope.

Julio is a phenomenal athlete, with magnificent hand-eye coordination.

He is working like crazy.

This is not a guy who can take the money and sleep well with two homers and 14 RBI after 51 games.

“There’s no doubt it’s going to come, and then Julio can pick up the whole team,” Servais said.

In the meantime, waiting is tough.

The fate of the AL West likely depends on when Julio resumes socking baseballs far into the night.

Often.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”