Raleigh puts Mariners’ struggles on himself: ‘I’m awful’

Published 11:50 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026

NEW YORK — The Seattle Mariners have been the most baffling, maddening team in baseball. With a roster of prime-age players who nearly reached the World Series last fall, Seattle should be cruising through the tepid American League West. Instead, the team is sinking fast, the trident pointing down.

The Mariners are eight games under .500, with a five-game losing streak, a daunting upcoming schedule and the fewest runs scored in the majors. Catcher Cal Raleigh feels responsible, and he unburdened himself on Tuesday night.

After another punchless loss, 4-1, to the New York Yankees in the Bronx, Raleigh asked to address the media. The manager traditionally speaks first after games, but Raleigh took questions for nearly 10 minutes before manager Dan Wilson.

“We’re not playing well, that starts with me — I’m awful,” Raleigh said, after striking out on a fastball well above the zone to end the game. “So it is what it is. I’ve got to find a way to be better and to help bring the guys along, and we’ve just got to play better.

“Ultimately, we’re just playing very, very, very bad baseball in every facet of the game. 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. And we’re just not doing those right now.”

Few players have ever experienced the kind of wild swings in production, from one year to the next, as Raleigh. After another 0-for-4 night on Tuesday, he was hitting .159 with a .563 OPS, both the lowest in MLB among players with at least 300 plate appearances.

In 2025, Raleigh was the sport’s breakout star, setting a single-season home run record for catchers and switch-hitters, with 60. He batted .247 (modest, but a career-high) with a .948 OPS and carried Seattle to the seventh game of the ALCS, the deepest October run in franchise history.

The Mariners, who are 56-64, have not been this far below .500 after so many games since the end of 2019. They fired their previous manager, Scott Servais, in August 2024 when the team was 64-64.

Raleigh said that Wilson, the current manager and a franchise Hall of Famer, was not the problem. He also absolved the rest of the Mariners’ leadership: president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, general manager Justin Hollander, and the directors of hitting and pitching, Edgar Martinez and Pete Woodworth. (The team did fire an assistant hitting coach, Bobby Magallanes, last month.)

This year’s slide is on the players, Raleigh said — specifically on him.

“Dan’s not out there playing, Edgar isn’t out there playing, Woody’s not out there pitching,” Raleigh said. “It comes down to the 26 guys in that locker room, and we’re gonna have to lean on some different guys each night. That starts in the clubhouse and we just have to do a better job of relaying that and understanding we can’t point fingers.

“We can’t say it’s Jerry’s fault, Justin’s fault or Dan’s fault. It’s not their fault, it’s our fault. We’re the ones that aren’t performing and we have to accept that. It’s just the tough reality of it. Ultimately, as a leader on this team, I feel responsible.

“We just have to do — I just have to do — a better job of getting ready to go and be prepared and bringing that edge and that readiness each night at 7 o’clock.”

The Mariners — who got two infield singles and a Randy Arozarena homer on Tuesday — have been alarmingly weak as an offense. Only the Cincinnati Reds have fewer hits than Seattle’s 902, and only the Toronto Blue Jays have a worse OPS than Seattle’s .681. A team that depends heavily on home runs has the worst slugging percentage in MLB (.353) since June 1.

Raleigh said that while the Mariners seemingly rely on homers, they cannot go to the plate trying to hit them. Home runs, he said, come from getting in good counts and being on time — that is, being in position to take your best swing and drive a pitcher’s mistake. He is not seeing that now.

“The approach is just not there,” Raleigh said. “To me it’s just off-balance swings, late to the heater, early on the off-speed. And I’m not pointing fingers. I’m ultimately the worst of the group right now and I understand that.”

The leading theory on Raleigh’s struggles is that the World Baseball Classic disrupted his preparation; he played in just three games, going 0-for-9, and overdid it when he returned. That led to an oblique strain that cost him a month, from mid-May to mid-June. But the results have been no better since then.

A hitter as accomplished as Raleigh does not suddenly forget how to hit. It stands to reason that health could still be a factor, but the Mariners do not think so.

“He certainly was (playing hurt) earlier this year,” Hollander said. “I don’t think he’s playing hurt right now. I do think that trying to catch up, from the beginning of the season on, led to some mechanical struggles, some timing issues, and the original injury to his oblique.

“I don’t think he is presently hurt, but I think it created some bad habits that he’s now working his way out of, and I think the biggest thing is controlling the strike zone and getting yourself into counts where you can do damage and then not missing the pitch when it’s in your zone.”

The Mariners lost on Tuesday, and the next ones will be no easier. After the Yankees series, they visit the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers, then head home to face the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.

All of those opponents hold or share a playoff spot at the moment. The Mariners should, but they don’t. They are losing, and at a loss.

“It’s hard,” Raleigh said. “You feel like everybody’s against you and things aren’t going your way, but you’ve got to have a good attitude and you’ve got to ultimately bring that edge to play every single day.

“Because nothing’s given to you. We’ve got to go take it. And 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 that edge that you should have every single day. And that starts with me.”