SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was a late scratch from the lineup Saturday night before a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Kansas City with what manager Dan Wilson termed “general soreness.”
Raleigh had been slated to bat second and start behind the plate against the Royals, but the Mariners announced he would miss the game just over an hour before first pitch. The soreness did require imaging, according to Wilson, but Raleigh is “day-to-day.”
Raleigh, who was the runner-up for AL MVP last season after hitting 60 homers and driving in 125 runs, is hitting .186 with seven homers and 18 RBIs through 33 games. After getting off to an extremely slow start at the plate, Raleigh has started to heat up, with five of his homers coming in the past 15 games.
In Raleigh’s absence, center fielder Julio Rodríguez hit second and backup catcher Mitch Garver eighth.
On Sunday, Wilson announced Raleigh was out of the lineup for the second straight day.
Wilson said the team hasn’t made any decisions about whether Raleigh will be put on the injured list, saying he is still day-to-day.
“He’s going to test it out a little bit today and see where he’s at,” Wilson said. “That’s kind of where we’re at. Once we get some feedback and understand where he’s at, then we’ll make decisions.”
Raleigh said there wasn’t a specific moment Friday when he felt the injury happen and that he was “playing it safe” on the recommendation of the team’s training staff. He had on MRI on Saturday and was still awaiting results on Sunday.
“You’ve got to put your ego and pride aside and think of others,” Raleigh said. “If I went out, gut it out and made it worse, am I hurting the team in the long run?”
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Recent Triple-A call up Jhonny Pereda got the start at catcher on Sunday in Raleigh’s place.