Dominant pitching doesn't excuse lifeless heart of Mariners batting order

It isn't hard to rationalize how the Seattle Mariners' best hitters have, in some sort of cruel plot twist, performed like the team's worst amid a 3-4 start to the 2026 season. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor have faced some darn tough pitching, and that's understating it.

The Cleveland Guardians brought some good arms when they came to town for four, and the buzzsaw that the New York Yankees took to the San Francisco Giants didn't lose its edge in transit to Seattle. They permitted the Mariners just two runs on Monday and three on Wednesday, sandwiched around a shutout on Tuesday. They're leaving town with a 2-1 series win.

Don't just tip you cap. Take it off gently and lay it at the feet of this Yankees' staff, as if making an offering. It has allowed six runs through six games, the third-fewest since 1898.

But then again, aren't good hitters supposed to beat the good pitchers in addition to the bad ones?

Mariners need more than the nothing they've gotten from their three star hitters

How bad is it for Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor? This bad:

• Cal Raleigh: 7 G, 4-for-25, 0 HR
• Julio Rodríguez: 7 G, 2-for-26, 0 HR
• Josh Naylor: 7 G, 1-for-27, 0 HR

At least Raleigh can claim to still have a functioning clutch gene after his walk-off on Monday. But he's also fanned 15 times, compared to "only" 10 for Julio and an actually respectful five for Naylor.

As a point of comparison, this trio combined for an .882 OPS and 47 home runs after they were joined as teammates ahead of the 2025 trade deadline. Expectations for each were accordingly high coming into 2026. Maybe a 40-homer season for Raleigh, a 30-30 season for Julio and a .300 average for Naylor. You know, that sort of stuff.

The typical early-season line of "Small sample size!" is valid. And as to the good pitching one, Max Fried looked every bit like a $218 million ace with 7.0 innings of shutout ball on Tuesday. And what Cam Schlittler lacks in experience, he more than makes up for with pure filth. The Mariners found out the hard way on Wednesday.

It's only natural to also wonder about the World Baseball Classic. Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor all played in it, and each went as far as the quarterfinals with their respective clubs. Correlation is not causation, but it's worth noting that other hitters (i.e., Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Roman Anthony) who played deep into the WBC have also started the season with cool sticks.

So yeah, you can stack the rationalizations. Heck, it's comforting to do so. And even if no such rationalizations existed, a batting trio with this kind of ceiling deserves a thick line between frustration and panic.

The frustration is real, though. Because when the reality is that the Mariners' lineup is being held down by the hitters who are supposed to be lifting it up, explanations don't quite double as excuses.