These Mariners are no long worth defending after Seattle loses grip on AL West

Right when it looked like the Seattle Mariners were getting back on track, they went on the road and were promptly swept by the Miami Marlins. There's no shame in losing to a Marlins team that's been beating everybody of late, but Seattle is now 47-47 — and with Thursday's loss, they fell out of first place in the AL West, a division they were expected to win comfortably entering the year.

There's still time for the Mariners to get going, and the fact that they play in perhaps the weakest division in the sport certainly helps. But the Mariners, a team with World Series expectations, still being at .500 a full 94 games into the year is alarming. At this point, it's getting tougher to defend some of the following players, given how much the team is underperforming.

OF Julio Rodriguez

Just when it looked like Julio Rodriguez was going to shed the "slow starter" label by putting together a monster month of May, he finished June with two home runs and a .651 OPS. He now has 14 home runs (10 of which were hit in May) and a .747 OPS on the year. Even his defense has taken a step back from where it usually is.

There's no reason to believe Rodriguez won't have a monster second half once he returns from the IL, as he seems to always do, but there's no excuse for him continuing to get off to these brutal first-half starts. The Mariners need him to play like a star all year, and thus far, he has not done that.

OF Luke Raley

Luke Raley was a saving grace for the Mariners for the first two months of the year, ending May with a .932 OPS. It's been nothing but a slog since then for Raley, though, as he's hit .150 with a .435 OPS since the start of June. His 25 wRC+ since June 1 ranks 238th among 241 position players with at least 80 plate appearances.

It might not have been fair to assume Raley would perform like an All-Star all year, but to go from leading the way for Seattle to being the team's biggest liability is a frustrating result, even from a guy who is known to be a bit streaky. The Mariners will need him to go back to crushing righties sooner rather than later.

Manager Dan Wilson

It's easy to blame the manager when things go wrong, and most of the time, it isn't fair. It feels like this time it is, though. Not only has Dan Wilson made his share of head-scratching bullpen and lineup decisions over the course of the year, but who else should be blamed for the team's stars underperforming?

I mean, guys like Randy Arozarena and Logan Gilbert are doing their jobs, but can the same be said about a single other big name? Injuries have hurt them to an extent, but every team deals with injuries. Players who were expected to be productive have not been. A lot of that blame goes on them, obviously, but it feels like something is just off for a team this talented to be struggling this much. He shouldn't be fired yet, but his seat should definitely be warm, if not hot.

RHP Bryan Woo

Bryan Woo has looked like the Bryan Woo everyone expects him to be at home, with a 2.10 ERA in eight starts. Unfortunately, it's been a different story when he's pitched on the road, as his 6.28 ERA in 10 starts would indicate. He goes from producing like a star at home to a guy who shouldn't even be on the roster on the road, and it's hard to explain why.

Sure, Mariners pitchers will almost always perform better at home than on the road given the dimensions at pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park, but there's no good explanation for why it's been such a massive struggle for him everywhere else. It's one thing to be worse on the road than at home, but being a 6.00 ERA pitcher on the road is unacceptable. The Mariners have gone 3-7 in his road starts, and that's a problem.

C Cal Raleigh

Cal Raleigh got off to a brutal start this season, and an oblique strain he tried to play through was seen as at least part of the reason why. Well, he was hitting .161 with a .560 OPS before being placed on the IL, and since returning, he's hit .183 with a .624 OPS. Better, sure, but not good.

Raleigh is drawing his share of walks, but he's still striking out over a third of the time and has just two home runs since coming back. Nobody expected him to hit 60 home runs again, but to go from being the MVP runner-up to not even reaching Mendoza Line is a problem. His 71 wRC+ is good for 181st out of 188 position players with at least 250 plate appearances. It's hard to see the Mariners going anywhere if he doesn't step up, and without an injury to blame, it'd be unfair to let Raleigh off the hook for how he's performed. Hopefully, the All-Star break will help reset him.

More MLB news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow