Raleigh the Troops

 

The AL West, once again, has become 'is anybody in their right mind going to try and stop the Astros?'. And so far it's gone badly for the Angels, badly for the Rangers and...well it hasn't really gone at all for the A's. Which leaves the Mariners. The Mariners the last few years have gotten very hot in August and September yet haven't made the playoffs in any of those tries. Could this year be different? Armed with Robbie Ray, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, could this be the year they actually have a shot?

...Maybe?

Look, is this the best of these teams to make a run of things recently? I'd honestly say no. I'd honestly say the 2021 squad, which still had Kyle Seager, a slightly more productive Jarred Kelenic and Jake Fraley, had more depth and more people on. Not that this team is bad, it's just...more centralized. You're relying on a very small group of people, a small core of Rodriguez, France, Crawford, Suarez and Raleigh, and you just hope that Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier, Abraham Toro or Sam Haggerty can show flashes of last season at any point. The good news is that Carlos Santana has been a pretty potent upgrade at DH, but now you're throwing people like Toro or Justin Upton into an empty OF spot and just hoping they can do something. I think Upton's cooked, but I don't know when he'll admit that. It's really turning into a hope that Mitch Haniger can make it back before the season's been really lost.

A surprise this year has been Cal Raleigh, who's made a catching job that was supposed to be Tom Murphy's into his own. While he's been flirting with the Mendoza line recently, he does have 11 homers and 31 RBIs, and that's not too shabby at all. Will he finally be an above-average catcher that sticks around in Seattle? We will have to see, but I do get a good vibe from Raleigh, especially this season.

Also, though I did say that past Mariners teams have looked more competitive, the rotation core of Robbie Ray, Chris Flexen, Logan Gilbert and Marco Gonzales is pretty awesome. Yes, Gonzales's record leaves a bit to be desired, but Ray's striking people out, Gilbert's a dominant ace, and Flexen just had a beautiful start earlier today, keeping runs down without having to strike many people out at all. I'm puzzled as to what they want to do with the fifth spot, as George Kirby was doing pretty well before they brought him down, but I hope it's something they're alright with.

The Mariners are only a few games over .500, and 4 games above the Rangers, but they do have something of a shot if they can coast a bit this month and make some waves towards the end of the season. With Julio looking like a star, France healthy again and so many pieces working, this seems like a team that could [possibly] break that 21 year drought.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie in San Francisco with a familiar name.