Just when it looked like veteran right-hander George Kirby was on the path to turning his season around with two strong starts in early August, the bottom appeared to fall out on the Mariners' starter over the last six days.

Kirby shut out the Twins over seven innings on Aug. 2 and limited the Rays to just one earned run in five innings of work on Aug. 8. The hope was that the 28-year-old right-hander was regaining the form that made him a dependable starter in 2025 in the AL Division Series win.

For much of this season, the Mariners have been unable to see the positive effects that Brendan Donovan can have on a lineup because of the groin injury that cost him half of May and all of June and July.

Finally healthy, Donovan is starting to show the impact he can have on a lineup with his contagious energy and gritty style of play.

I’m not about asking for a man’s job either, but how can we abide by bringing Michael Rucker into a 1-0 game on the first day of a road trip that will determine the fate of the season? How could we be even a bit surprised that the two lefties leading off the inning smoked balls into right. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Wilson was selling the season. This move made no sense on any level.

I think the Chicago White Sox are a really good fit for Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo at this year's deadline. 

Some thoughts below on the match for both teams and a potential trade package. 

The Mariners hold a slim half-game lead over the Texas Rangers in an awful AL West, but Seattle has arguably underperformed all season and is still the only club in the division with a positive run differential (+21). 

How close are the Mariners to actually competing in the American League this postseason? What is the one trade you would make to get them to the World Series? 

The Mariners may trade from their starting pitching depth to get more talent elsewhere. 

Would be a smart take on the trade deadline given the current landscape in the American League. The offense needs serious help and someone like Castillo is expendable at this point. 

A year after Mariners stars played major roles in the MLB All-Star Game, Randy Arozarena with the club's only participant in Tuesday night's Midsummer Classic -- a 4-0 win for the AL over the NL.

The two teams combined for just seven hits, 27 strikeouts and just one extra-base hit in a game that featured only one run scored after the first inning.

Some of the best hitters in baseball -- Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh, Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Alex Bregman, Ronald Acuna Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Will Smith and Pete Crow-Armstrong -- have gotten off to uncharacteristically poor starts so far in 2026.

Also, elite pitchers such as Tarik Skubal, Edwin Diaz, Brayan Bello, Yusei Kikuchi and Daniel Palencia have struggled with either performance, injury issues or both early this season.

In recent years, the Mariners have almost universally been thought to have the best pitching staff in baseball. While that group has shown some cracks early this season, could the imminent return of Bryce Miller lead to the M's having a dominant starting staff again?

How they fare over one of their most arduous stretches of the season could be very telling.

An absolute genius as a hitter, Edgar Martinez might have just given the Mariners' struggling offense just the lift it needed yet again.

With Luke Raley mired in a month-long slump in April -- and his hot, three-homer start in March a distant memory -- the struggling outfielder sought out the counsel of Seattle's resident Hall of Fame designated hitter, per MLB.com's Jackson Stone.