With Cal Raleigh in slump, Mariners shake up batting order

CHICAGO - For the first time this season, Cal Raleigh's name in the lineup wasn't in the No. 2 spot in the batting order.

Going into Sunday's series finale vs. the White Sox, manager Dan Wilson shuffled around the three hitters who have consistently hit in the second through fourth spots in the order.

Julio Rodríguez was moved into the No. 2 spot, batting behind leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan, who recently returned from the injured list. Josh Naylor was moved up to the third spot while Raleigh was dropped to the cleanup spot.

Just kind of jumbling up at the top a little bit, it's not like it's a huge change," Wilson said. "It's still the same four guys up there, just looking at a little different order. It sets us up a little bit differently."

Part of the reason for the change has been Raleigh's struggles.

After going 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts Sunday, Raleigh hasn't picked up a hit since blasting a two-run homer against the Twins on April 26 - that's a span of 36 plate appearances. During that span, he drew three walks and struck out 14 times.

Of course, during that span, Raleigh tweaked a muscle in his side and missed three consecutive days of games, which is never ideal for someone who has fought to find his timing with his swing on both sides of the plate.

Raleigh knows he's scuffling at the plate. He knows the start to this season hasn't been ideal for him or the team.

"I'm trying to get there," he quietly said postgame. "Honestly, it's not been great. It's been really ugly. I'm trying to do my best to just compete up there."

For the season, Raleigh has posted a .161/.244/.320 slash line in 168 plate appearances. He has four doubles, seven homers, 18 RBI, 17 walks and 53 strikeouts.

The start is even less ideal coming off his record-setting season in 2025.

"I have high expectations for myself," he said. "I haven't quite lived up to what I want to do. And obviously, that's frustrating. But at the same time, I need to realize that I need to have better at-bats and try to help the team out more than worry about anything else that comes as far as my stats or stuff like that."

Raleigh's life has revolved around the idea of process over results. Everything about his day is a process to prepare to play each night. It's a discipline as much as a routine. But it's also the process to each at-bat, having an approach and sticking to it, regardless of what he has done in previous at-bats and games.

"For me, it's more on the mental side than it is trying to physically change something," he said. "I'm just trying to battle and compete and not worry about the rest of the stuff and try to get back to being more process-oriented."

Trying to force results has led to swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone. Wilson believes the more pitches Raleigh sees in an at-bat will lead him back to success.

"The last couple of days, we've seen some deeper at-bats," Wilson said. "We've seen some pitches where he's just kind of missed, and I feel like it's getting real close for him. I know he continues to put in the work and keeps working at it. He is trying to find that thing that's going to make a big difference."

Admittedly, the struggles have led Raleigh away from his process, particularly at the plate, even though he knows that's the worst possible way of thinking.

"You could go around and ask all 26 guys in this room, and at some point they've been frustrated with the results," he said. "And then they start to look more at the results than the other stuff. Talking with the other guys and coaches, it always goes back to the process and really trusting what you're doing in the box."

Raleigh's season has been in three parts.

He started off slow and looked out of sync with the timing of his swing. While he wouldn't admit to it being the issue, it was clear that participating in the World Baseball Classic and the limited work and game reps were a factor. He tried to cram the time he missed into the final week of spring training like a college student trying to learn a semester of curriculum before finals.

He posted a .132/.233/184 slash line in 43 plate appearances over his first 10 games. He didn't have a homer and struck out 20 times.

But over his next 20 games, he posted a .241/.315/.532 slash line with two doubles, seven homers, 13 RBI, nine walks and 18 strikeouts in 89 plate appearances.

Raleigh wouldn't use the oblique issue as an excuse for his struggles. It came in the third game after his last hit. He's doing daily treatment on the area to stay healthy enough to remain in the lineup. He just needs to have a better process in his at-bats.

"Sometimes you've just got to take a step back and realize that," he said. "You really need to find something that you can trust and find something that has worked for you in the past. I'm trying to find that.

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