What Mark DeRosa saw at WBC should swear Mariners' Cal Raleigh off the event forever

There's plenty of reasons why the Mariners have been so average this season, including failing to hit with RISP, a plethora of injuries, and poor defense. However, we would contend the biggest reason for their sub-.500 record is Cal Raleigh's fall from grace. And based on comments by Mark DeRosa, there's now no doubt the World Baseball Classic was the genesis of his struggles in 2026.

No one expected Raleigh to replicate last season's success, when he became just the seventh player in Major League history to hit 60 home runs. Similarly though, no one predicted he would be on course for his worst campaign since his rookie year, when he only played 47 games. He currently has a negative bWAR, is projected for a career-low .169 batting average and has produced a mediocre .581 OPS and 67 OPS+.

Mark DeRosa admits Cal Raleigh's swing was 'off' during the WBC

DeRosa was manager for Team USA during the WBC, so got to spend plenty of time with Raleigh. As such, it made sense he'd be asked if anything seemed "off" with the catcher, during an interview last Friday on Seattle Sports. And his response will have likely left an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach of plenty of Mariners fans, as he said:

"Yeah. He was hooking a lot of balls, front shoulder, rolling over the top hand. Doing some things that you would expect him to be able to get out of quicker than maybe he’s been able to get out of it. "

Mark DeRosa

In fairness, we were made aware of Raleigh's issues at the time, with Fox Sports announcer Joe Davis reporting during the WBC that the 2025 All-Star's swing was not in a great place. And the proof was in the pudding, with him going 0-for-9 during the tournament and subsequently not playing in either the semifinal or final. DeRosa admitted to Seattle Sports that whoever was swinging the bat at that moment had to play, which is why he gave the nod to Will Smith in the final two games.

To be clear, we're not trying to put any blame on Raleigh here. It's March and of course his swing wasn't going to be up to speed yet, but the WBC was basically the worst possible event for him. He similarly had a slow start during spring training last year, but this time around had to work his butt of to get competition-ready and didn't have enough time to do it.

Cal Raleigh's WBC issues compounded by handshake incident with M's teammate Randy Arozarena

In fact, we suspect pushing himself to get in game-form so quickly, probably laid the foundation for Raleigh's right oblique strain. We appreciate there are plenty of players who go to the WBC and then having successful seasons in the majors, but for the 2024 Gold Glover specifically, the event was a disaster. And that's before we even get into the whole Handshakegate incident and fallout involving his M's teammate, Randy Arozarena.

DeRosa did discuss this during his interview with Seattle Sports, saying the incident was overblown, but if Raleigh could go back and do it again, he would have probably given Arozarena a fist bump. Our issue with this is that Raleigh was just following the instructions given to him, to not acknowledge their opponents, even if it was a club teammate. He was effectively put in a no-win situation.

Overall, as we wrote last week, the WBC excuse for Raleigh's downfall is past its expiration date, with him now back to full health for over a month. However, the reality is his confidence is clearly shot at the moment, with the feasible concern that he may not recover his form in 2026. As loyal and passionate as he is about representing his country, we wouldn't be surprised if he gives the WBC a wide berth next time around.

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