A momentous fall. That’s the best way to describe Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh’s 2026 outing so far. Just last season, he blasted 60 home runs, earned his first All-Star selection, and finished as the American League MVP runner-up. Since then, however, Raleigh has struggled at the plate throughout the year. Speculation has been rife about the reasons behind his decline, including his participation in the World Baseball Classic. That’s exactly what Raleigh has now addressed.

“I’m not one to make excuses; I don’t regret going to play for Team USA,” Raleigh told Bob Nightengale, as per Punchoutpitch’s X post. “I think that was a great opportunity, and I would still do it over again just because you don’t get that opportunity every day.”

The 29-year-old made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Mariners. Apart from his rookie season, he has been effective at the plate, sitting over .700 OPS. That number climbed to .948 in 2025, the same year he signed a six-year, $105 million contract. However, his 2026 has been nowhere close to those figures, as he is slashing .165/.269/.300 with a .569 OPS. 

He has managed only 45 hits in 74 games, and his extra-base production has been equally concerning, with just 10 home runs and seven doubles. But the downward spiral actually began before the regular season.

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Cal Raleigh represented Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic back in March. While the Americans were the runners-up, the 2025 Silver Slugger went through a dry spell. He couldn’t manage a single hit in his 9 at-bats and put up 4 runs through 4 walks only. 

While that is that, the Mariners bench coach pointed fingers at his WBC stint for his current struggles. 

“I’m a big fan of the Baseball Classic…and I’m not an excuse maker. But I don’t think the Baseball Classic helped Cal Raleigh at all,” Manny Acta said.

A right oblique injury sustained in mid-May sidelined Raleigh for about a month. However, the issue had actually been bothering him since the beginning of the season. Pointing to the negative impact that the World Baseball Classic had on him, Acta implied that despite limited at-bats, Raleigh had overworked himself after returning to Spring Training. However, the coach remained optimistic about the slugger and expected to see an improvement in the second half.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as Raleigh went 4-for-31 over the 9 games after the All-Star break. According to Baseball Savant, there is a significant drop in his quality of contact, and he has developed higher chase and strikeout tendencies. As a result, the pitchers can exploit his vulnerability at the top of the zone. 

But if anything, Cal Raleigh continued in his stance of making no excuses. Despite the noise from both fans and analysts alike, he has refused to consider his WBC participation as the reason for his regression. 

“At the end of the day, was it harder to get at-bats? Yes. Did it maybe throw my timing off a little? Maybe. But I’m not here to speculate and make excuses.”

Notably, the catcher, despite his offensive struggles, has remained one of the best defensive players behind the plate. His game-calling capabilities and pitch-framing metrics have been praised by both the clubhouse and the fans alike.