After an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the Seattle Mariners concluded a disappointing first half of the season at 48-49.

Thanks to the mediocrity of the American League, they'll enter the second half just 1.5 games back of the Texas Rangers in the American League West, and they are also tied for the third wild card spot with the Minnesota Twins. They are 0.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who have won nine straight games.

The reason why the first half has been so disappointing? Seattle not only entered the season with World Series aspirations, but the American League has given them every opportunity to run away and hide, but they haven't been able to take advantage.

For a deeper dive, let's look at the first half as a whole.

Record: 48-49

Standings: 2nd place, AL West (1.5 GB).... T3 wild card spot

Fangraphs' playoff odds: 71.1 percent (49.3 percent to win AL West)

Second-half schedule strength: 6th-easiest. Combined opponents winning percentage of .490.

Cole Young. 

After hitting .211 in his 77-game cameo in 2025, Young was left off the playoff roster entirely as the M's made a run to the American League Championship Series.

This year? He's played in a major league-best 97 games, hitting .253 with a .313 on-base percentage. At just 22 years old, he's been one of the M's better offensive players, hitting 11 homers and driving in 43.

For a team that struggles offensively, almost universally, Young is hitting an excellent .291 with runners in scoring position.

Honorable mention: Emerson Hancock (6-4, 3.17 ERA) and Bryce Miller (4-3, 2.18 ERA).

Cal Raleigh.

After hitting 60 homers and finishing second in the American League MVP chase last season, Raleigh has been a shell of himself in 2026. He saw sporadic playing time in the World Baseball Classic, then ended up with an oblique injury, tried to play through it, and then missed a month of time. He's still trying to find his timing and his pitch recognition, and he's hitting just .169 with nine home runs.

His OPS+ of 67 suggests he's a way below-average player right now. If he was even average, how many more wins would the Mariners have?

Honorable mention: Bryan Woo (7-6, 4.23 ERA but a 6.28 ERA on the road) and Rob Refsnyder (.133 batting average, OPS+ of 22).

Oh, they are a big part of the story.

Now, every team has them, and the Mariners cant use them as an excuse, but it's certainly an issue.

Cal Raleigh missed a month. The offseason's biggest acquisition, Brendan Donovan, has played just 25 games. Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez have both been on the injured list, and J.P. Crawford has been there twice.

Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley are clearly playing compromised. Victor Robles has missed significant time too. And that's just on offense.

When you look at the pitching side of things, this group missed Bryce Miller for a month and a half, has seen Matt Brash be on the injured list twice, Gabe Speier once, and Carlos Vargas hasn't pitched this season.

All that said, the Mariners could, and should, still be better than they are, but to ignore the injuries is foolish.

The Mariners entered a Memorial Day series with the Athletics at 25-29 and reeling after a series in which they lost two-of-three to the lowly Kansas City Royals.

The Mariners swept the A's in West Sacramento, Calif. to get to 28-29, and then proceeded to win five consecutive games after that too, giving them a season-high eight-game winning streak.

There have been several, so you can take your pick, but blowing a 6-2 lead in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres on April 15 surely stands out.

The Mariners got swept in that series, and that outing only intensified the questions about closer Andres Munoz.

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