The Seattle Mariners lost to the Athletics 6-4 on Monday. However, their struggling stars provided key contributions that indicate they may be turning a corner.
To begin the season so far, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Josh Naylor toil to consistently provide the production that they did in 2025. Having three key players in a slump is terrible for any offense. However, those three stars still provide moments of excellence for the Mariners.
Raleigh hit a home run in the bottom of the first to begin the game, tying Raúl Ibañez at 156 (8th) on the all time Mariner home run list. The next on the list is Alvin Davis, Mr. Mariner himself.
The pitch was crushed into the opposite field bullpen at 106 mph. There’s still plenty of power in Raleigh’s bat despite only hitting .161 to begin the season.
Julio Rodríguez Creates Magic
GettyJulio Rodríguez made an outstanding catch in Monday’s game that has gone viral.
In the top of the first, Nick Kurtz smashed a baseball 107.5 mph into centerfield. As the ball approached centerfielder Rodríguez, it started to slice away from him. He planted his feet, pivoted his body, and jumped to his right to make an incredible play to save an extra base hit.
After the game, Rodríguez talked about the occasion.
He said, “When I saw the ball, it was like cutting this way, and then went that way. I just kind of went, ‘Where’d the ball go?’ That was the only thing that went through my head that I remember. Like, ‘Where’d the ball go?’ And then I saw that it knuckled this way, and that’s when I just kind of made the catch.”
Rodríguez noted that a similar ball flew that way in his rookie year against Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. It fell down and became a triple.
“It’s difficult because when it’s knuckling, you don’t really know what the ball is going to do. You don’t really know, because it started like it was pulled and then it went the other way. So it’s always kind of like a wild card. But I just kind of tried to stay with it as long as I could just to be able to make the catch”
After the play, Rodríguez got a base hit and stole second base. He scored after a double from Naylor.
Josh Naylor Getting Back to His Old Ways
GettyJosh Naylor went 3-4 in Monday’s game against the Athletics.
Naylor reminded Mariners fans of the pesky edge he provides to this team. Despite going 3-4 and driving in a run, Naylor annoyed Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn after relaying signs from second base by raising his arms up at different pitches. It is entirely possible that Naylor had no idea what pitches were being thrown and was just trying to get under Ginn’s skin. Regardless, Naylor played into Ginn’s obvious frustration.
It is a good indication of what Naylor provides to the team, and that fun is something the Mariners need to keep bringing to the ballpark.
Even though the team is struggling, they are still 4th in odds to win the World Series on Fangraphs. There’s a whole lot of baseball left, and this team just needs to remember what they can do every night. Monday was a sign of that.
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