Josh Naylor injury news shows into why he couldn’t reach previous Guardians heights with Mariners in 2026

The 2026 season was an abject disaster for Josh Naylor and the Seattle Mariners. 

One year after coming within one game of making it to the World Series, this year’s iteration of the Mariners finished with a 76-86 record thanks in large part to some regression for every marquee player on their roster — Josh Naylor included. 

Naylor may have made a great first impression with Seattle last season (his first season away from the Guardians), but he took a huge step back this year with a .261/.317/.350 slashline. 

It’s the kind of production that validated the Guardians’ decision to trade him away, and made Seattle’s decision to sign him to a five-year, $92.5 million deal look even worse. 

But we got a bit of a look into why that could have been the case on Monday when the Mariners announced that Naylor underwent triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) repair surgery on his right wrist at the University of Washington Medical Center.

That doesn’t excuse Naylor from having his rough year, but it does make more sense as to why it happened. 

Josh Naylor's rough 2026 season makes more sense after wrist surgery

While we don’t know how long Naylor was dealing with his wrist injury, it stands to reason that it was for most of the season. 

Even though his batting average improved from the .212 mark he put up in March/April, but his signature power never came back. In fact, he finished the year with just 10 home runs after hitting 10 last year across his time with the D-Backs and Mariners. 

All of those numbers pale in comparison to what Naylor did in 2024 when he finished the year with 31 home runs and 108 RBI to earn his first career All-Star nod. 

The Guardians decided he wasn’t worth the impending payday, however, and traded him to the Diamondbacks for Slade Cecconi and a draft pick that turned into pitching prospect Will Hynes. 

Although Naylor starred for the Mariners last year after a mid-season trade to the Pacific Northwest, his trade never really stung since the D-backs had to settle for less for him at the deadline than what they gave up to get him. 

The Mariners also announced that catcher Cal Raleigh underwent a left shoulder acromioclavicular (AC) debridement procedure, which also provides insight into why he struggled so much this season. 

He only hit 23 homers after mashing 60 in 2025, and a lot of the Mariners’ struggles can be traced back to his lack of production in the middle of the order. 

It also helped the Guardians in their quest to the postseason, both in the micro (they won the season series against Seattle) and macro (the depressed American League West helped them earn a bye in the postseason). 

We’ll have to wait to see if Raleigh and Naylor’s surgery helps the Mariners get back to their previous heights next season. 

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