Morosi: Mariners’ slumping offense needs stars to step up

The Seattle Mariners have failed to live up to their sky-high expectations at the midpoint of this season.

Despite World Series aspirations and a roster that on paper looked like the best that the franchise has fielded to start a season in years (or ever), the M’s have plodded their way to a 42-41 record through 83 games.

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The sputtering offense has been the main culprit of the underwhelming first half. The club entered Saturday having scored three or less runs in a whopping 44 games, including its past 12.

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi offered his take on Seattle’s offensive struggles with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Thursday. For Morosi, it all comes back to underperforming stars Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh.

“When your superstars don’t perform, your lineup’s going to struggle,” Morosi said. “And that’s exactly what the case has been.”

“How much can the manager really do at this stage to shake up the lineup with some of the personnel you’ve got?” Morosi added. “This is not really a team, especially if (Victor) Robles isn’t really going, that’s going to create a ton on the bases in terms of excitement. It’s not really a manufacture-a-run kind of a team, so they’re a little bit stuck.”

Rodríguez looked to be shaking his reputation as a slow starter during a strong May when he hit .274 with an .899 OPS, 10 homers and seven doubles in 28 games. But it’s been a tough June for the center fielder, who’s batted just .200 with a .568 OPS, two homers and two doubles in 22 games this month.

Raleigh, who slugged 60 homers and finished as American League MVP runner-up last season, has never got going in a year that already received a month-long interruption due to an a stint on the injured list with a right oblique strain. The switch-hitting slugger is batting just .165 with eight homers and a 68 wRC+ in 51 games, a huge dropoff from the 161 wRC+ campaign he had in 2025.

In addition to Rodríguez and Raleigh, first baseman Josh Naylor also hasn’t met expectations. He began the year with a lengthy slump and hasn’t provided much slugging with just 18 extra-base hits (eight homers, 10 doubles) in 76 games. Naylor, who re-signed with Seattle on a five-year, $92.5 million deal during the offseason, has also hit just .214 with runners in scoring position while taking the majority of his at-bats in the cleanup spot.

“The answer is, unfortunately for a lot of Mariner fans, you’re going to have to wait for the big guys to get going, or do something to help accelerate that process,” Morosi said. “Because aside from that, you’re not going to have Cal just dropping bunts down every now and then. That’s not what’s going to happen here. He’s got to be better, Julio’s got to be better than he has been lately, and Naylor’s got to drive in a lot of runs if this team’s going to get back to where they were last year.”

“This is not a team that is calling for a megastar trade,” Morosi added. “This is a team that is calling for their own stars to perform better.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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