The Seattle Mariners open up the 2026 season on Thursday night (7:10 p.m. PT) against the Cleveland Guardians. It's a battle of two playoff teams from a year ago and one that could have playoff implications down the road for the M's.

But in the immediacy, this series will give the Mariners the first chance to answer an interesting lineup question that is going to arise several times throughout the season: What happens when Cal Raleigh is the designated hitter?

It's something we discussed on the most recent episode of the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast. 

"When a right-hander is on the mound, we expect Dom Canzone to be the DH and Luke Raley to be in right field, or vice versa. But we expect them both to be in the lineup. When a left-hander is on the mound, we expect Victor Robles or Rob Refsnyder, one of them a DH, one of them the outfield. And that plan seems pretty good, especially at the beginning of the year.

But you know what? That plan is all predicated upon Cal Raleigh catching. What happens when Mitch Garver is catching? What happens to the best laid plans that the Mariners have?...

The Guardians are gonna go with three consecutive right-handed pitchers in this series: Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and then another righty in game three. Game four, they're going with lefty Joey Cantillo. So if we play this out, Cal Raleigh catches the first three games of the year. Mitch Garver maybe catches the fourth game of the year against the lefty pitcher to get him in the lineup.

At that point, do the Mariners bench Cal Raleigh and just give him a full day off early in the season? Or do they immediately blow up their plan of Robles and Refsnyder playing against a lefty?

And look, early in the season, I would say all bets are off, right? Early in the season, they may sit Cal for a game like they won't do later. They could play Cal at DH, and then they could sit Arozarena for a game. They could sit Julio for a game. Funky things happen with alignments early in the season when you're trying to not push anybody too hard and you're trying to get everybody in in various situations.

So by the end of the first series, I will expect that every Mariners player will have played. ...Teams tend to do that. They want guys to get into the flow of the season.

So I don't know how the Mariners are gonna do it, but bottom line is this: whenever Garver plays, you have to wonder, is Cal going to be on the bench or are they going to be sitting one of Robles, Refsnyder, Canzone, or Raley, all four guys they think are valuable?

For what it's worth, I think they're always gonna find a way to play Cal Raleigh. You're always gonna have to deal with somebody you like and value being on the bench every time that Garver catches. And whether Garver catches 35 games or 65 games, you are always gonna have to deal with somebody you like being on the bench."

It's certainly something to be aware of as the season begins. Garver is going to play, and his impact on the lineup will be noticeable. 

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