Mariners News: Yimi Garcia, Luis Castillo, George Kirby, and Cal Raleigh

The up-and-down (and down some more) season continues for the Mariners. One of the rocks for the Mariners has been, well, their "Rock" in La Piedra. He had made 74 straight starts for the Mariners since they acquired him back at the 2022 trade deadline but that streak is coming to an end with the recent news that him hamstring strain is bad enough to place him on the 15-day IL.

It's more than that, though. It could be enough to end his season, especially if the Mariners are out of playoff contention when he becomes elligible to return. If that's the case, there is a chance that the outing he was pulled from with the injury could be the last time that we see Castillo in a Mariners' uniform. While he does have a no-trade clause, if the team can work out a deal with a contender (The Orioles?), you could see him waiving it. With the Mariners need for offense, there are strong rumblings that they are going to trade a starting pitcher this year.

He's not the only one going on the IL, though. Yimi Garcia, who the Mariners acquired at this year's deadline, has been palced on the 60-day IL with right elbow inflamation. That ends his season, and goes down as a solid loss in the trade books since he was only a rental. He struggled with the Mariners, giving up six runs in nine innings, with three homers during that short time. It'll actually go down as the worst stretch of his career for any team.

The hits keep coming for the pitching staff, only this time, it's at the hands of the Padres. George Kirby looked off in his series-opening start against the Padres. Through five innings, he hadgiven up three runs due to a single punishable mistake to Tatis Jr that led to an opposite field homer to put the Padres up 3-2. Sitting at 88 pitches, Wilson and the Mariners decided to keep him in the game in the 6th to try and get through the heart of the Padres lineup.

Well, it didn't work. Profar laced a double into right to lead off the inning. Following that, Machado fought off a couple of sliders out of the zone. Kirby tried to challenge him with high heat and didn't elevate the ball enough... so Machado decided to elevate it and crushed it, hitting it 429 feet to dead center for a 2-run homer, ending Kirby's night at 5+ innings and five earned runs.

It wasn't all bad, though, for the Mariners. Well, at least from a historical standpoint. Cal Raleigh continued the early-game success that he has been showing over the last couple of weeks and took Darvish deep for a solo homer.

It's a big deal as it gives Raleigh back-to-back 30-HR seasons, something that you don't see that often from a catcher. It also moves him to 2nd all-time for most homers by a catcher in their first four seasons in the majors, currently sitting at 89. What's even more impressive about Cal is that he has essentially done that in three seasons, having hit 27-30-30 in the last three seasons, with only two coming in his first season.

Cal has a chance to set the record, as he needs to hit four more to get there over the team's last ~20 games of the season. Between the offense that he provides and the incredible defense, Cal has been one of the few bright spots for the Mariners this season.