A lot has been written about the Seattle Mariners and their pitching staff being really solid this season. But the real highlight reel right now belongs to Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.
Raleigh's output at the plate has been awesome. Raleigh has hit 27 home runs to lead the major leagues. He also has with 60 RBIs, giving the Mariners' offense a big push.
Still, the Mariners have seen their American League West Division lead go away. They have slid down to be in second place as the Houston Astros have stormed their way to the top spot.
Seattle is 37-35 at this point, still doing its best to stay in the division race. Despite being in mid-June, the Mariners are looking like they are looking for an AL wild card spot. This level of play has kept Seattle in the No. 11 spot in the latest MLB Power Rankings from The Athletic.
Tim Britton of The Athletic offers some perspective on the Mariners' current situation.
CAL RALEIGH GRAND SLAM
— MLB (@MLB) June 18, 2025
He takes the MLB HR lead with No. 27! pic.twitter.com/C53P02Oaos
"The Mariners’ offense is the best it’s been since ancient times, and that foundational starting rotation has instead been their albatross," Britton wrote. "The division is still winnable, and the ceiling for the roster looks higher now than it did in March if all aspects of the game align."
Britton points out that the Mariners' pitching staff was the big reason why the team wasn't included in The Athletic's preseason top 10 rankings.
"In that initial writeup, (The Athletic writer) Grant Brisbee went on and on about Cal Raleigh’s chase of 60 home runs and the genius of bringing back Jorge Polanco and all of why J.P. Crawford would rebound with the stick — and how if this team could just find a couple starters," Britton wrote. "… Yeah, so sometimes teams follow broad expectations while confounding on every specific."
Mariners manager Dan Wilson has done a good job of getting Seattle to stay in the division race. Even though Seattle is down 4 1/2 games to the Astros, it remains in contention as the summer months roll along.
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