Lazaro Montes is practically begging for a shot at Luke Raley's Mariners job

On a peripheral level this has been a fine season for Luke Raley as a platoon player, including ranking tied-second on the Mariners with 15 home runs. However, the reality is he's been on the downward turn for a while now, and it's past time to shake things up. Step forward, Lazaro Montes.

We're well aware that Raley is the type of guy you want to root for, and the way he bounced back from last year's horrendous injury luck has been a joy to behold. Still, it's a kind of underrated story how much he has struggled for nearly two months now. Through May 30 he produced a .929 OPS and 163 wRC+, but since then he has put together an awful .471 OPS and 35 wRC+.

This isn't an attempt to put all of the offensive woes onto just one player, with the lack of success a team-wide issue highlighted by ranking tied-last in the majors in batting average and third-worst in runs per game. Still, a slump as bad as the one Raley has endured should have the Mariners thinking about other/better options. And as far as we're concerned, Montes is right there if they want to pull the trigger.

The hits keep on coming for Lazaro Montes as he goes from strength to strength

The 21-year-old already entered this season with a reputation as the best hitter in the Mariners' farm system. That's what happens when you win the Ken Griffey Jr. Minor League Hitter of the Year award for two straight years. However, he has used the 2026 campaign to reinforce his standing and is now practically begging for a shot at the majors.

Montes has been hitting like crazy since the start of June, particularly standing out with a 1.035 OPS and 16 home runs. Keep in mind this productivity includes facing a higher level of competition, after being called up to Triple-A Tacoma earlier this month. And he seems to be really warming up now, following an initial period of adjustment:

Granted, we can entirely understand critics will argue replacing one power-first left-handed hitter with a bad glove for someone similar might not prove to be an upgrade. However, the potential with Montes is much more appealing at this point. At least there's a chance of him going off, whereas Raley has mostly been a bystander for the last two months, with limited belief he's going to rediscover his form from earlier in the year.

Ultimately, we don't think the Mariners are going to go down this particular road in 2026. (Not that we would have any issue with being proven wrong.) Additionally there's a chance -- no matter how small -- that Montes could be traded between now and Aug. 3. Still, it can't be denied that the Cuba native has stated his case very strongly to get a shot in Seattle.

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