Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor surgeries could explain a lot about lost Mariners seasons

Now that the Seattle Mariners' season is over, the healing can begin. That is literally true for Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor, who were revealed on Monday to have undergone shoulder and wrist surgery, respectively.

On Saturday, Raleigh had an acromioclavicular (AC) debridement procedure on his left shoulder at the University of Washington Medical Center. The AC joint connects the collarbone to the highest point of the shoulder blade. A debridement is a procedure meant to clean out damaged or irritated tissue rather than repair or reconstruct anything.

Also at the University of Washington Medical Center on Saturday, Naylor underwent triangular fibrocartilage complex repair surgery on his right wrist. The TFCC a collection of cartilage and ligaments on the pinky side of the wrist. When an injury is involved, it can cause issues with gripping.

According to the Mariners, Raleigh and Naylor are expected to be fully recovered in time for spring training next year.

Injury updates on Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor add valuable context for their 2026 seasons

When looking back at the season Raleigh had, the right oblique strain that landed him on the injured list in May didn't prove to be any kind of demarcation line.

The 29-year-old struggled before the IL stint, and he continued to struggle after it. The end result was a .664 OPS that marked a nearly 300-point drop from the .948 OPS he had in 2025, when he blew away records by blasting 60 home runs.

That Raleigh also had an issue with his left shoulder might not explain the overall decline, but it could explain why the switch-hitter's batting from the right side fell off more dramatically than from the left side:

Raleigh's left shoulder is his lead shoulder when batting righty, and that shoulder plays an important part in controlling the bat and transferring energy from the torso to the arms and hands. He lost 0.4 mph off his average right-handed bat speed from 2025 to 2026, compared to 0.2 mph off his left-handed bat speed.

Also on the topic of bat speed, the lefty-hitting Naylor lost 0.8 mph off his average from 2025 to 2026. This is now a multi-year decline, but its latest step down could potentially be attributed to the problem with his right wrist. If nothing else, it might at least explain the 29-year-old's power downgrade from 20 homers in 2025 to just 10 this year.

His right wrist began bothering him in June, when he missed two straight starts because of it. Naylor ended up playing in 152 games anyway, but he hit just two home runs in his last 84 games. He had hit eight homers through his first 68 appearances before those back-to-back absences.

A recent article by Adam Jude of The Seattle Times had alluded to the possibility of surgery for Naylor, who added a caveat when admitting to the pain he had felt during the season: "If you’re not willing to play through pain, this is the wrong job.”

Naylor isn't wrong, but nothing contextualizes how much pain a guy played through like news that he needed surgery to address it. In this case, Raleigh is in the same boat.

What was always a bad year of injuries for the Mariners now looks even worse in retrospect. It almost turns missing the playoffs into a silver lining, as Raleigh and Naylor now have one more month to recover than they would have otherwise.

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