Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Josh Naylor Are Struggling at the Plate. Should Mariners Fans Worry?

Seven games into the season and the Mariners' biggest bats have gone silent. That's not ideal when you're trying to build early momentum, especially after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Yankees at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday night.

The lineup's stars have been underperforming in a big way to start April. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and Josh Naylor, the trio expected to carry the offensive load, have mostly looked like they're still waiting for their coffee to kick in. Rodriguez struck out during Wednesday's loss, and the whole vibe around the first week has felt more frustrating than exciting.

The Early Season Reality Check

Look, it's early. Seven games is barely a sneeze in a 162-game grind. The question Seattle has to ask itself is simple: are these struggles the kind that sort themselves out naturally, or is there something deeper to worry about?

The fact that the Mariners can't seem to get production from their top three hitters is definitely a problem right now. Against a team like the Yankees, you don't win games when your best guys are ice cold. The offense needs to wake up fast, or this early-season slide turns into something harder to fix.

What Comes Next

There's still plenty of baseball left to play, and talent doesn't just disappear. Raleigh, Rodriguez, and Naylor have shown they can hit. But baseball doesn't care about potential. It cares about what happens in the box score, and right now, that box score is brutal.

The Mariners need these guys to heat up. Soon. Because five or six more games of this and you're not talking about early-season jitters anymore, you're talking about a real problem that needs fixing.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.