Cal Raleigh is taking the blame for the Mariners’ struggles.
After Seattle lost its fifth straight game to fall eight games below .500, Raleigh, who has been one of the worst players in baseball this season after nearly winning the American League MVP a year ago, pointed the finger at himself.
“It’s not good. We’re not playing well,” Raleigh told reporters on Tuesday. “That starts with me. I’m awful. “I’ve got to find a way to be better, and to help bring the guys along. We’ve just got to play better. We’re just playing very, very, very bad baseball in every facet of the game.”
Despite a talented roster and winning at least 85 games in each of the last five seasons, the 56-64 Mariners are 4 1/2 games behind the Astros in the AL West and four games out of the third and final AL wild-card spot, and don’t appear ready to turn it around anytime soon.
“We’ve got to pick it up, from the energy standpoint, to the execution, to the little things in the game that help you win baseball games,” Raleigh continued. “We’re just not doing those things right now.”
Raleigh has been far from the player who finished second in the AL MVP voting behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge last season, with his brutal year becoming one of the biggest reasons Seattle has fallen apart.
The 29-year-old backstop is hitting .159/.264/.299 with just 12 home runs in 86 games heading into Wednesday’s play.
In 2025, Raleigh hit a major league-leading 60 long balls, the most ever for a catcher, with an AL-leading 125 RBIs.
“It’s tough when things aren’t going your way, it’s hard. You feel like everybody’s against you, things aren’t going your way, but you’ve got to have a good attitude. You’ve got to bring that edge to play every single day, because nothing’s given to you,” Raleigh said. “We’ve got to go take it. Sometimes, when you’re feeling bad for yourself, you get a little lackadaisical out there and maybe have a little less energy, or maybe you don’t have quite the same edge that you should have every single day.
“That starts with me. I need to do a better job of that each and every night, just being prepared and being ready to go every single night.”
