Stock Watch: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not After Mariners Sweep Astros
The Seattle Mariners seem to have finally righted the ship after a very rough start. Following a four-game sweep of the rival Houston Astros, they sit at 8-9, right back in the thick of things in the AL West.
For that turnaround to happen, several players had to step up at T-Mobile Park over this past weekend. Let’s highlight three players who are on a hot streak right now, and three who still are waiting for things to thaw in the early stages of the 2026 season.
Who’s Not
Dominic Canzone
In Canzone’s defense, he has roughly 12 less plate appearances than others, given the nature of the platoon situation he’s in. Still, he has been largely ineffective lately despite a great opening series against the Guardians. In the nine games he’s played in since then, he’s getting .167 with no homers and seven strikeouts. Over the last seven games, he owns a below average 74 wRC+ with a troubling .574 OPS. He might just be a victim of a small sample size, but he has cooled off as of late.
Luis Castillo
The alarm bells are going off among the Mariners fanbase. In his last two starts, Castillo has failed to even complete four innings. He owns a massive 12.86 ERA over those two games, totaling just seven innings in the two appearances. His strikeout rate is down. He is allowing an average exit velocity of 93.0 mph, which ranks in the ninth percentile and is worse than his 2025 mark of 90.3 mph.
This is definitely something to monitor going forward for the former ace.
Cal Raleigh
This is the biggest splinter stuck in the foot of the Mariners fanbase at the moment. With the momentum of a 60-homer season and a runner-up MVP finish last year, many expected Raleigh to pick up right where he left off last year. He has not. Even with two homers now, the overall numbers are, frankly, putrid. Over the last seven games specifically, he has a .167 average, .514 OPS, and lowly 50 wRC+ (where 100 is considered average).
For those looking for some silver lining here, just take a look at Raleigh’s numbers through the first 15 games of last season: .184 AVG, 2 HR, .633 OPS. But that doesn’t make this sluggish start any tougher to watch.
Who’s Hot
George Kirby
While the starting rotation as a whole has not quite hit its stride yet in Seattle, Kirby looks to have done just that. He has made two starts over the last seven days and pitched into the eighth inning in each of them. He tossed eight innings against the Rangers, even after allowing three runs. He bounced back against the Astros, going 7 2/3 innings while allowing two runs and striking out six. That’s good enough for a solid 2.87 ERA over his last two starts, while showing impressive stamina. And the offense actually gave him run support this time around.
Josh Naylor
It’s a good thing we made this list after Monday’s game or Naylor probably is on the “Not” list. It sure helps when you hit two homers in a game to boost the Mariners to a four-game sweep of the Astros. That bolstered his OPS over the last seven days to a respectable .746. It should be mentioned that his batting average of balls in play (BABIP) is a microscopic .091 despite an “expected” batting average of .232. That suggests he has been getting extremely unlucky. Perhaps, this is a sign of things evening out, but either way, great sign to see him start raking this past weekend.
Luke Raley
Raley is one of the only Seattle bats that has been fairly consistent all season so far. He opened the season by hitting three homers in the first three games. While he hasn’t homered since, he has done plenty to contribute. Over the last seven games, he has a stellar 1.026 OPS, thanks to two doubles and a triple along with nine hits overall, batting .409 in that span. Not to mention, he made a fabulous catch in the outfield on Monday against the Astros that spared the Mariners of a possible Astros rally.
