The Mariners dropped another one in Florida on Friday, falling 7-2 to the Rays, and the game had a familiar feel to it. Tampa Bay controlled the action early, Seattle’s offense never really found a pulse, and by the time it was over the Rays had pushed the margin to five.
The first three innings told most of the story. The Rays kept putting weak contact in play against Luis Castillo, rolling grounders the other way and testing the Mariners’ infield range.
That approach kept runners moving, forced Castillo to labor, and made Seattle work around traffic. Tampa Bay only managed one run in that stretch, but it was enough to get Castillo deep into his pitch count and through the order twice by the fourth.
Then the power showed up. The Rays followed with a run of solo home runs that carried into the fifth, and the game had tilted firmly in their favor by then. When the dust settled, Tampa Bay was up 4-1.
Seattle’s problems weren’t limited to the mound. The lineup has been struggling, and Cal Raleigh is a big part of that slump.
Another chance came with a runner on base and Raleigh at the plate, and once again he couldn’t put the ball in play. His wRC+ has fallen to 68, and he’s been sitting around replacement level.
The Mariners are also missing Julio, who is on the injured list. He opened the season cold, then caught fire, then went cold again to start June, then put together a 12-hit week before the Angels took him out.
Without Cal and Julio, the lineup just hasn’t been good enough. Seattle is 14th in wRC+ at 101 after finishing second last year at 113.
That drop-off matters because Cal and Julio were the top batter tandem in the majors last season, and they were projected to be the same again this year. They’re a huge part of why the Mariners matter in the American League at all. Take away your best players - especially when they’re two of the best in the sport - and the explanation for a rough season starts to look pretty plain.
For now, the Mariners look stuck. The article’s view was blunt about that, suggesting there may not be much to fix beyond changing the manager, and even that was framed more as a shrug than a solution. There was also some sarcasm about what it would take to shake things up, but the core point was simple: this team is missing its stars, the offense is dragging, and the results keep looking the same.
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That pattern has only sharpened the focus on how hard this spot has been to solve internally, especially after recent attempts did not give the Mariners the kind of long-term stability they wanted. The front office has kept circling back to trades and free-agent fixes at first, which says plenty about where the organization sees its own system and why the search for a true homegrown fit still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]