The Seattle Mariners were eight outs away from reaching their first World Series in 2025, but they likely will sit out the 2026 playoffs following a disappointing regular season.
The Mariners (71-82) faltered after the All-Star break and are on the verge of elimination with nine games remaining, but they want to finish this year strong.
After ending a three-game losing streak on Wednesday, Seattle will open a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Friday night.
Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo (12-9, 3.88 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Colorado, which has yet to name a starter for the series opener.
The Mariners were 51-50 on July 20 but lost 15 of their next 20 games to drop in the playoff hunt. Several players haven’t matched their success from last year, most notably Cal Raleigh. The catcher had 60 home runs and 125 RBIs last season but has just 22 homers, 66 RBIs and a .182 batting average this year.
The Mariners finished 90-72 in 2025.
“It’s difficult, it’s frustrating, all those things,” manager Dan Wilson said. “And it’s never a good mark to be at, and that’s not one that we expected to be at. So yeah, it’s frustrating. It’s just tough to be there at this point.”
It’s a tough reality for a team that had championship goals heading into the season.
“That wasn’t the expectation,” Wilson said of the subpar season. “That’s not what any of us thought. And that’s, I think, why it’s difficult and it’s as frustrating as it is. Nobody likes to be in this spot.”
The Rockies (56-97) expected to be better than last year, when they lost 119 games, and they have improved. However, they’re on pace to surpass 100 losses for the fourth consecutive season and face a long rebuild.
They have lost 10 of their last 11 games, including dropping three of four to San Diego this week.
There have been highlights, with the impact of rookies Cole Carrigg and TJ Rumfield, as well as the season Hunter Goodman has put together. Goodman represented Colorado at the All-Star Game in July for the second straight year and has backed up that honor with a career-high 38 home runs.
He is the first National League catcher to hit that many homers since Javy Lopez belted 43 for the Atlanta Braves in 2003. Goodman’s quest for 40 homers was derailed slightly by a sore right thumb suffered in Monday night’s loss to San Diego.
He was injured while sliding when he finished a triple with a headfirst slide into third during a three-run sixth inning. Goodman has not played since leaving that game in the seventh inning, but he is improving and should be in the lineup during this final homestand, which will wrap up Thursday against Arizona.
“My right hand, my thumb, got caught on the bag, and I don’t really know what happened after that,” Goodman said. “When I dove, I thought my right hand was going to slide past the bag and not touch it, and my right thumb kind of just hit the side.”
–Field Level Media
