Good, Bad, and Ugly: Cal Raleigh Homers Twice, But Mariners Drop Fifth Straight in Loss to Angels
Folks. The vibes are bad.
The Seattle Mariners lost again by an 8-6 score, and even with another spectacular offensive game from you-know-who, the team has now lost a season-high five straight games and guaranteed a series loss to a less-than-spectacular Los Angeles Angels team.
Let’s look at the good, bad, and ugly from Saturday’s latest defeat:
Ugly: Julio Rodriguez Exits with Injury
Oh. No.
On about as fluke of a play as possible, Rodriguez was forced to leave Saturday’s game with an apparent ankle injury in the third inning. It occurred when he was attempting to steal third base, but Randy Arozarena smoked a liner off his ankle, meaning that not only Rodriguez was out, but he was forced to leave the contest.
Simply put, the loss of Rodriguez for an extended amount of time would be untenable. Not with how the rest of this team is playing. Say what you will about the offense -- which has been above-average in 2025, even with some inconsistent results -- but losing what the 24-year old brings with his wheels and with his glove? Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope.
No matter how you feel about whether Rodriguez belongs in the “star” category of baseball players, you would have to be either insane, uneducated or some combination of both to say that this injury would be a massive loss for the Seattle Mariners, and for those of us who want the Seattle Mariners to win games.
UPDATE: The Mariners say there’s no structural damage and that the team believes he’s day-to-day after an initial MRI. That is most positive news. Most positive news, indeed.
Bad: Luis Castillo
Castillo has been excellent as of late. He was far from it Saturday, although his defense didn’t help. He allowed six runs in the contest while allowing eight hits, and he struck out five without issuing a walk.
Two of those runs were unearned, and the swing-and-miss stuff for Castillo was pretty solid as seen in 14 whiffs against the right-hander. But he also allowed three homers in the contest, and he caught way too much of the plate for the majority of the contest. Perhaps he deserved a slightly better outcome, but this was far from Castillo at his best in a game where the Mariners needed him to pitch well. Bummer.
Good: Cal Raleigh Did It Again. Twice.
The Mariners jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and the first three of those runs were scored on a homer to center off the bat of Big Dumper. He also homered in the ninth off Kenley Jansen to make it 8-6. That’s now 26 homers on the season, and he’s driven in 53 runs. He is a spectacular baseball player, and there’s going to be even more pressure on him if J-Rod has to miss any significant time. Please help us, Dumper.
Good: Cole Young/Ben Williamson
This was pretty easily the best game of Young’s, well, young career. He hit a ground-rule double and scored on an RBI single from J.P. Crawford, and he knocked in a run of his own with a single to make it a 6-5 game. Young had looked a bit overmatched in the first six games of the season, so it’s nice to see some competence. It’s also worth pointing out that he’s struggled to begin every level of his career, so be patient.
Williamson’s value, on the other hand, came with the glove; although he did have a hit on a perfectly executed hit-and-run. He made several spectacular defensive plays, and really Castillo’s day could have been much worse without Williamson behind him. The offense needs a ton of work but Williamson is already an asset with his glove.
Ugly: The Rest of the Defense
This was bad. Leody Taveras was dreadful in center in his first inning replacing Rodriguez; misreading a ball off the bat and then making an error when it dropped in front of him. Raleigh threw a less-than-perfect sinker to Rowdy Tellez on a swinging bunt, and Tellez dropped the ball that allowed a run to score (note: an error that was originally charged to Raleigh was later changed to Tellez. Thank goodness, I was ready to scream about how bad scorekeepers are). Taveras also misread a fly ball to center on a ball that wasn’t an easy play, but one you have to imagine Rodriguez makes pretty easily. Later, Dylan Moore made an error on a single.
Long story shorter, the defense outside of Williamson stunk tonight, and the Mariners deserve to be losers of five straight. This isn’t very fun right now.
