The Seattle Mariners had real hopes of winning the World Series in 2026. The team, boasting an AL MVP runner-up, a center fielder on the rise, and a free-agent signing known for driving in runs, offered fans genuine cause for optimism. But the bats have been ice cold for the first few weeks of the season, and the hot takes are already flying. Before anyone starts to panic, let's slow down and sort through the noise.
Cal Raleigh Is Done as an Elite Hitter
There are few things the internet does better than immediately declaring a superstar finished after a cold week. Cal Raleigh is the latest victim.
After blasting 60 home runs with 125 RBIs in 2025 and earning 13 first-place MVP votes to finish as the American League MVP runner-up behind Aaron Judge, Raleigh has looked nothing like that player to open 2026. The slugger posted a painful 2-for-15 line with 10 strikeouts during the World Baseball Classic, was benched by Team USA's coaching staff, and the struggles carried over into the regular season with a .179 average, 1 home run, and 4 RBIs through the Mariners' first 12 games.
That sounds alarming. It is not.
Raleigh played a career-high 159 games in 2025 and logged 705 plate appearances. His body was grinding through the WBC before the regular season even began, and catchers historically take longer to find their rhythm at the plate due to the physical demands of their position. The talent that carried him to 60 homers and an MVP-caliber season did not vanish overnight. His walk-off RBI single against the Yankees on March 30 offered a quiet reminder that elite hitters find a way. A cold two weeks from the reigning runner-up is an overreaction waiting to be laughed at come May.
Julio Rodriguez's Star Has Faded for Good
This one is perhaps the most exaggerated panic of the early season.
Julio Rodriguez is hitting a brutal .077 through his first 26 at-bats in 2026, with an OPS of just .277 and zero home runs. For a player who hit .267 with 32 homers, 30 stolen bases, and a .798 OPS in 2025, this is jarring. Alarmists are already whispering that J-Rod has never put it all together consistently and that 2025 was his ceiling. They are wrong to think this early slump defines his trajectory.
Rodriguez was actually named in the 2025 AL MVP voting, finishing sixth on the ballot and earning 136 total points, a testament to how well he played across the full season. His 2025 monthly splits tell an important story: he hit just .202 in April before surging to .321 in August and .272 in September. In other words, slow April starts are almost a Julio Rodriguez tradition at this point. He has always been a player whose engine takes time to warm up, and by summer he routinely turns into one of the best two-way threats in the American League. Calling this a permanent decline based on 30 plate appearances is the definition of an overreaction.
Josh Naylor Was a Terrible Free Agent Signing
The newcomer on this list has given Mariners fans the most visible cause for concern, and the criticism has been swift.
Josh Naylor signed with Seattle in free agency last November after the Mariners acquired him from Arizona at the trade deadline in 2025. Coming in with a career .267 average and 104 home runs, including a standout 2023 season where he hit .308 with 97 RBIs for Cleveland and won the Tip O'Neill Award as Canada's best MLB player, expectations were reasonable. Through his first 32 at-bats of 2026, though, Naylor is hitting a woeful .094 with zero home runs and just 2 RBIs, posting an OPS of .265. His playing time at first base has been limited to seven games, and the statline is nearly unreadable.
But context matters enormously here. Naylor is a new player in a new uniform adjusting to a new lineup and a new set of pitchers studying him for the first time as a Mariner. First basemen who sign in free agency routinely need a month to settle into their new environment. His career numbers with Cleveland speak to his proven track record as a consistent run-producer. The sample size of 32 at-bats is simply too small to render any verdict on a player with over 2,600 career MLB at-bats. By the time Seattle hits its division schedule in full swing, Naylor's bat should be right where the Mariners expected it to be when they signed him.
