Barely two days after busting a career-worst slump at the plate and taking a fully-clothed shower to spark the breakout, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was placed on the injured list with a right oblique strain before the team’s series finale Thursday against the Houston Astros.
It is not yet known how long Raleigh, who needs to undergo imaging, will be sidelined.
“The good news here is that he’s got a chance to get himself back, to get himself healthy and to come back with a lot of the season left,” manager Dan Wilson told reporters at Daikin Park on Thursday.
This is Raleigh’s first IL stint in the major leagues. Since his July 2021 debut, he has appeared in 573 games behind the plate. No other backstop in the American League has played more than his 4,747 1/3 innings, and he trails only the Philadelphia Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto (5,491 1/3) and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Will Smith (5,105 2/3) for the MLB lead since the start of the 2021 season.
Journeyman catcher Jhonny Pereda took Raleigh’s place on the roster. Veteran major-league catcher Mitch Garver entered Wednesday’s game for Raleigh and appears most likely to get the majority of the playing time in his absence. He has hit .167/.344/.188 in 20 games this season, his third with the Mariners.
Raleigh, 29, last year’s runner-up in the American League MVP race, opened his fifth full season in the majors in a slump, batting only .161 with seven homers and 18 RBIs for an AL West team expected to challenge for a second consecutive division crown. He carried a career-worst skid into the four-game series with the Astros in Houston, where he snapped his 0-for-38 stretch with a hit in the seventh inning of the Mariners’ 10-2 win Tuesday.
Raleigh had been hit between the legs by a foul tip in the previous half-inning but was not removed from action and delivered another hit despite being in obvious pain. He also played Wednesday until he experienced a recurrence of discomfort in his right side late in the game. Raleigh was seen grimacing in the eighth after backing up a throw on a misplayed bunt. He later slipped after securing the first out of the eighth at home on a softly hit bases-loaded grounder, which prevented him from making a throw to first for what might have been a double play. Raleigh did not return to the field for the top of the ninth.
“He had to change directions, and it kind of grabbed on him there,” Wilson said. “And I think that’s, again, he’s been really good about being diligent and trying to take care of it as much as he can. And I think something like that makes it tricky. It kind of jumps up at you a little bit, and you realize that it’s time to kind of take a step back and get fully healthy.”
Raleigh sat out three consecutive games from May 2 to May 4 with a side issue.