Salk: Mariners’ missing identity embodied by player nearing return

Jun 13, 2025, 12:02 AM

Host, Brock & Salk (6-10 a.m.)

The Seattle Mariners have a lot of problems.

They are just 11-20 over their last 31 games, including eight losses in their last nine. They aren’t scoring enough runs, their rotation hasn’t been as good as it can be and the bullpen has exacerbated that problem. They’ve given back not only their lead in the AL West but their high-water mark of eight games above .500.

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I don’t know what is going to turn this around. During this stretch, we’ve seen many of the predicted problems from their quiet offseason come to fruition. Their needs at first, second and third base were well documented and remain mostly unsolved.

In terms of production at those three positions (based on OPS), the team ranks 25th in the league at first base, 15th at second, and 15th at third (the latter two due in part to Dylan Moore’s hot April). For now, they seem content to ride out second and third with two rookies, Cole Young and Ben Williamson, but first base remains a concern. And it has unexpectedly been joined by right field.

That wasn’t supposed to be a problem. They were banking on Victor Robles. When he was hurt, they were banking on Luke Raley. Once he got hurt, the position has essentially fallen off a cliff.

Yes, the 2025 Mariners have had some tough injury luck.

They’ve yet to go a full turn through their projected starting rotation, and they’ve been without 60% of it at times, which includes their ace, Logan Gilbert, being lost for nearly two months. And Robles was expected to be a big part of their gameplan this season, as well.

Those aren’t excuses – teams suffer injuries all the time, especially in their rotation. But the injuries have changed the look of the team. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if they have been more affected by the loss of Raley to an oblique strain than anyone else.

Let’s start with the obvious: Raley was not having a good start to the season. He was hitting just .206 with two home runs and an OPS south of the major league average. So I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a savior.

But he was coming off an excellent season in which he had 22 home runs, 11 steals, and finished with a .783 OPS while playing both first base and the outfield. By contrast, Mariners right fielders have an OPS of .580 and first basemen .645 this year. So getting Raley back into the rotation regularly at one or both of those positions could conceivably help, a lot.

He also fits the profile of what this team said they wanted to build: a rare combination of power, speed and athleticism.

In Raley’s absence, they’ve tried to get by with players who have one of those qualities instead of his combo. For example, Rowdy Tellez brings power, but that’s about it. Leody Taveras brought athleticism, but not much else.

One of the issues with the team over the past six weeks has been an apparent lack of identity. Or maybe the lack of fulfilling the identity they seemed to be striving for this offseason. Certain players embody that, and Raley joins Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Moore and Robles as guys that can do it best.

The Mariners want to be hard to play against, and for the last six weeks they have not been. Luke Raley isn’t a season-saver, but he does fit the system. He started his rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday, and hopefully won’t need too long before he can return.

Mariners OF Luke Raley starts rehab stint in Triple-A

The Mariners had an off day following their 1-5 road trip. Often, those are action days for teams scuffling the way the Mariners are right now. But there really aren’t many significant roster moves they can make right now. Maybe they could call up Harry Ford for Mitch Garver, but that would likely necessitate putting three rookies in the lineup more nights than you’d want.

The most helpful thing they could do is get Raley back. Short of that, this group will just have to figure out themselves how to get back to the type of baseball that was working for them in April.