Cal Raleigh reflects on Mariners’ ‘disappointing’ 2024 season

It’s become an all-too-familiar feeling for Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners.

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For the second consecutive year and the third time in four seasons, the franchise has fallen just short of reaching the playoffs. The Mariners were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Thursday, marking the end of a brutal three-month collapse that saw them blow a 10-game lead atop the American League West.

“Just disappointing,” Raleigh said during a media availability Saturday prior to the penultimate game of the season. “Disappointing year overall. I thought there were some really good stretches. I thought there were some really bad stretches. And there just wasn’t enough good at the end of it and we weren’t able to get it done, which (is) just disappointing really.”

On June 18, the Mariners were 44-31 and held their largest division lead since 2001. But after that, it all unraveled in stunning fashion. Seattle went 20-33 over the next two months and fell all the way back to .500, leading to manager Scott Servais being relieved of his duties after nine seasons at the helm.

The death knell was a disastrous 1-8 road trip in mid-August that saw the M’s go from tied atop the AL West to five games back of the eventual division champion Houston Astros.

“It just never really got clicking,” Raleigh said. “I feel like we’d win a few games there and we’d lose a tough one. Or then we go on those bad stretches and couldn’t pull one out when we needed to. And like I said, just frustrating. And I think looking back, a lot of games were kind of given away.”

Led by a young and ultra-talented starting rotation, the Mariners entered Saturday night with the best ERA in the majors. However, their pitching brilliance was overshadowed by their struggles at the plate, with their lineup ranking at or near the bottom of the majors in most major offensive statistical categories.

Since former Mariners standout catcher Dan Wilson took over as manager and brought Hall of Fame slugger Edgar Martinez on board as the interim hitting coach, Seattle’s lineup has experienced a turnaround. The Mariners have scored the sixth-most runs in the majors over the past five weeks, while going 19-13 over that stretch.

But ultimately, they had too much ground to make up in the standings.

“I thought when Dan and Edgar got here, it got a little better,” Raleigh said. “We just played a little better, we had better at-bats, pitching was solid. But at that point, it was still a little too late.”

And so once again, the Mariners find themselves on the outside looking in. After ending a two-decade playoff drought in 2022, the franchise hasn’t been able to take the next step.

“We’ve gotta get better – each person, myself included – and we’ve gotta kind of figure it out,” Raleigh said.

“You’re gonna have hiccups throughout the year,” he added. “The best teams do. World Series teams do. … But it’s figuring a way out and kind of putting the bumpers up, like a bowling analogy, (and) not getting off the track too much. Finding a way to keep it in and not stray too far off the path. And I feel like maybe the path just got too wide and we strayed too far.”

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