Cal Raleigh to the Rescue? Mariners Not Dead Yet as September Approaches

This certainly has not been the season the Seattle Mariners, nor their fans, had envisioned. As August draws to a close, the Mariners are six games below .500, eight games worse where they were this time last season. Several fingers can be pointed in several directions to find blame for this sluggish season that has failed to live up to expectations.

Certainly, a finger can be pointed squarely at last year’s AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh. He even admitted it himself, when he told Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish, “I’m awful” earlier this month. After setting the world on fire last year with 60 homers and a .948 OPS, he is currently on pace for just 22 home runs and a lowly .625 OPS. His batting average is down roughly 80 points. It’s been a dark year for Big Dumper.

And yet, hope remains. Thanks to the mediocre nature of the rest of the American League around the Mariners, they are only two and a half games out of the AL West and four games back of an AL Wild Card spot. And now, Raleigh is showing signs of his former self just in time.