Seattle, WA
How is Mike Macdonald coming along as Seattle Seahawks coach?
The Seattle Seahawks hit some turbulence earlier this season, losing five of six games to fall to a 4-5 record.
Brock and Salk: Can the Seahawks’ defense be called elite?
But just as the season was in danger of slipping away, Seattle appeared to find its stride under first-time head coach Mike Macdonald.
The Seahawks have since rattled off three straight wins and surged atop the NFC West to 7-5, sparked by a dramatic midseason turnaround on defense. After sitting near the bottom of the league in most defensive categories over the first half of the season, Seattle has held each of its past four opponents to 17 offensive points or fewer in regulation.
It took some time, but it’s the type of dominant defense many hoped for when the Seahawks tabbed Macdonald as the successor to former longtime head coach Pete Carroll this past January. Macdonald came to Seattle with a reputation as one of the league’s brightest defensive minds after his recent success as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens and Michigan Wolverines.
“Mike Macdonald can coach defense,” ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano said Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “I think that was obvious to everybody in his last couple of stops in Baltimore and at Michigan before that. But it makes sense that it would take a little while, right? It’s a new scheme and guys have to learn it and their place in it – what exactly is expected, not just conceptually, but game to game, play to play.
“So the idea that it would have gotten better in the second half of Macdonald’s first season makes complete sense. And I think that’s what’s happened.”
But as Graziano said, a head coach’s impact goes far beyond just one side of the ball.
“Seattle didn’t hire him just because he could coach defense,” Graziano said. “They hired him because they thought he was going to be a really good head coach.
“And I know (from) talking to people in that building toward the end of training camp and beginning of the regular season, they were fired up (from what) he had shown them in terms of his command of the building – his ability to be decisive and clear and coherent with his vision in meetings and in conversations with people around the building. They were fired up. They felt like, ‘Yes, we got the right guy.’”
At 37 years old, Macdonald is the NFL’s youngest head coach. Naturally, his age and reputation as a defensive guru have prompted comparisons to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.
McVay, who was just 30 he became the Rams head coach in 2017, is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game. He has led the Rams to five playoff berths over the previous seven seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl title.
“Yes, (Macdonald) is the youngest coach in the league,” Graziano said. “So was Sean McVay. And that’s a high standard to hold someone to, but that’s obviously the hope – to hit a home run on that level. Sean McVay did not succeed as head coach of the Rams just because he’s a great play caller and a great offensive play designer. He succeeded because he is the center of that building. He is the one that communicates the vision for the team, and he got everybody to buy in right away.
“And if Mike Macdonald is doing that – and there are reasons to believe that he is – then I think the Seahawks’ fan base has reason to be excited about the future with him as their head coach.”
Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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Thanks to Carrie Brown for the westward view of our Saturday night sunset. The high today hit 68 at the airport – eight degrees above normal – but nowhere near the record for this date, which was 89 degrees back in 2016. The forecast suggests two more days of partly sunny, almost-70-degree weather, before the chance of rain returns.
CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment
Seattle, WA
Brandon Nimmo hits leadoff homer, Jacob deGrom works 4 scoreless as Rangers beat Seattle Mariners 5-0
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 17: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers tags out Dominic Canzone #8 of the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on April 17, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run, Jacob deGrom threw four shutout innings and Gavin Collyer earned his first career win as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0 on Friday night.
Seattle lost its fourth straight game, and was shut out for the fourth time in 21 games, falling to 8-13. The Mariners were shut out six times during the 2025 season. Texas won its third straight game.
Nimmo led off the game with a 372-foot shot to right field off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (1-3). It was Nimmo’s 16th career leadoff homer and second of the season. He also hit a leadoff home run on April 11 in a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeGrom effectively maneuvered through Seattle’s lineup, and worked out of a one out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner recorded two of his three strikeouts after walking Josh Naylor to load the bases. Randy Arozarena fanned on a curveball, and Luke Raley swung through a fastball.
Texas added to its lead after Nimmo’s homer. Wyatt Langford’s single to left scored Corey Seager, who led off the third inning with a double. The Rangers stretched the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single from Jake Burger in the seventh.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance came in the sixth after Collyer (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, left the game.
J.P. Crawford singled to left off Tyler Alexander with two out, and Mariners third base coach Carlos Cardoza sent Naylor from second base, but he was thrown out by Langford.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Josh Jung.
Seattle third baseman Brendan Donovan left the game early due to a left hip issue.
Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who started the year on the injured list with a left oblique injury, was at T-Mobile Park for the first time this season. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Up next
Mariners RHP George Kirby (2-2, 3.25) will face Rangers righty Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40) on Saturday afternoon.
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