Cal Raleigh just exposed the Mariners' biggest problem

Cal, Cal, Cal.

That's what Mariners fan have sounded like for much of this season, and finally Cal Raleigh is on the same page. After a long and frustrating season in which accountability has been lacking, Raleigh finally admitted what Mariners fans have been saying all along: there is a problem, and he is a part of it.

In a report from Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times following Seattle's loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday, Raleigh shared some details on what's been going on with the M's.

“It’s not good,” Raleigh said. “We’re not playing well. 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 just gotta play better. We’re just playing very, very, very bad baseball in every facet of the game. We gotta pick it up — from the energy standpoint to the execution to the little things in the game that help you win baseball games. We’re just not doing those things right now.”

The sentiment itself wasn't anything Mariners fans haven't heard before. The team has acknowledged its struggles plenty of times this season. But something about this one felt different. Instead of hiding behind the "we," Raleigh spoke about himself. That kind of accountability has been missing this season, and coming from Raleigh, it matters. As the face of Seattle's 2025 offense, Raleigh's presence on the team comes with a certain level of responsibility, both when things are good and when they are bad.

Cal Raleigh's unsparing self-criticism could have been a team-wide Mariners confession

For what feels like the first time this season, Raleigh didn't just admit that the Mariners were struggling, he went on to acknoweldge that his own approach had a hand in it. And what he said next exposed an issue that goes far beyond one player.

“Sometimes baseball players can be stubborn, but we’ve just got to put our pride aside,” Raleigh said. “We have to focus a little more on the team aspect, or hitting the ball the other way, or trying to just take singles and not trying to go for the long ball every time. Ultimately, when you rely on the long ball, you’re gonna get a lot of off-balance swings and you’re gonna be a little out front. The pitchers here are really good and you’ve got to take what they give you. We’re just not doing that right now.”

There it is. What so many have been saying about the Mariners, but they have had such reluctance to agree with. Seattle has more than just a hitting problem. They have an approach problem.

The all-or-nothing tactic isn't working, and it was never a sustainable way to build an offense. Did it work in 2025? Sure, but Raleigh's power was a huge part of that, and there was no way that was going to last through another season. Teams adjust, players change, slumps happen. The Mariners should have known that, and needed to adjust.

Instead, Seattle entered 2026 as if last year's formula would just continue working. When the home runs dried up, there wasn't enough offense underneath to keep them going. And that leads to the simplest question: if they aren't hitting home runs, what are they doing?

The answer is, unfortunately, not enough. Even worse is that it took this long in the season for someone to admit it.

The problem isn't that the Mariners hit too many home runs, its that they rely too heavily on them. Power is good, and Raleigh's ability to change a game with just one swing has been a big reason Seattle has seen success. But, when home runs are the expectation, the offense becomes predictable, it suffers and has nothing to fall back on. If Raleigh finally gets that, shouldn't the rest of the Mariners get it too?

If so, they need to act like it, and fast. Even if there isn't enough time to salvage the 2026 season, they sure as heck better make changes to avoid the same mistakes by 2027.

For now, Raleigh has at least done something Mariners fans have been waiting for. He put the blame on himself. Now, him and the rest of the M's have to do something about that.

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