The Seattle Mariners went 76-86 in 2026, missing the playoffs just one year after making a run to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. 

The expectations they entered with, and how they finished, made the M's arguably the biggest disappointment in baseball.

Basically everything that could go wrong, did go wrong: From power regressions to a general pitching regression, to a second-half bullpen implosion, to the M's becoming the poorest defensive team in the league.

There were also individual coaching and front office decisions that have been scrutinized, and a reported lack of clubhouse accountability. 

And while no one will use them as an excuse, injuries played a role in the 2026 Mariners failures as well.

Let's take a look at the overall impact of injuries on the M's.

Total days lost to injury: 1,452 (21st-most)

Total IL stints: 29 (T-15th most)

*Information from Spotrac

1) We don't know if the Mariners would have been the deepest team even if they had been healthy, however, it's clear that missing the pieces they missed - mattered.

Vargas being gone for so long meant that the Mariners were out a mid-leverage arm who could throw multiple innings, forcing more innings upon the guys who remained. The same was true of Criswell.

Brash not being there cost the M's a high-leverage arm, and again, forced more work on those who remained.

It's not a surprise that the likes of Eduard Bazardo and Jose A. Ferrer were out of gas by the second half of the season, which is when the bullpen cratered.

2) The Mariners offense was anemic for much of the year, and missing Donovan for so long is a big reason why. Brought into help facilitate offense, he just wasn't there enough to do it. Raleigh, Rodriguez and Arozarena all being out had impacts as well. Those injuries are part of the reason why the Mariners were 28th in runs scored and 29th in batting average.

3) In a way, the injuries also hurt the Mariners like this: The injury situation was bad, but it was never so bad that the M's could really go out and fully address the holes.

For instance, the team expected the likes of Raleigh, Crawford, Donovan, Vargas and Criswell back, which meant they were able to just keep waiting for them to return. Had someone been officially out for the season, that would have been very bad too, but it would have given clarity for the M's to go out and make moves. Just like when the team brought in Ryne Stanek in 2024 once Matt Brash was officially lost for the year.

As a result of the expectation for guys to return, they were caught in a holding pattern too many times.