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Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh 29 reacts after striking out against the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning during game six of the MLB, Baseball Herren, USA American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, October 19, 2025. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUSA TOR20251019931 JOHNxANGELILLO
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Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh 29 reacts after striking out against the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning during game six of the MLB, Baseball Herren, USA American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, October 19, 2025. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUSA TOR20251019931 JOHNxANGELILLO
The Seattle Mariners finally saw a glimpse of life coming out of Cal Raleigh’s bat as he broke his career-worst 0-for-38 slump with 2 hits on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. But just a day later, the team suffered a huge setback. The blow complicates things more as the Mariners are struggling with a below .500 record this season.
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“Cal Raleigh is indeed heading to the IL for the first time in his career, with a right oblique strain,” the Mariners insider Daniel Kramer posted on social media on Tuesday.
Raleigh was behind the plate on Wednesday’s game against the Houston Astros. The Mariners suffered an extra-inning 4-3 loss after securing the series. But before they lost the game, Seattle lost its primary catcher to the strain in the bottom of the ninth.
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After a 0-for-4 performance – with two strikeouts – Raleigh was taken out of the contest due to side soreness. While trying to position himself for a throw from Julio Rodríguez, Raleigh was seen struggling and holding the right side of his waist. The next thing we see is Raleigh holding off on throwing to first base on a would-be, 6-2-3 double play that would’ve helped Seattle get a one-run lead.
The injury was probably first triggered on Tuesday.
The switch-hitting catcher went down after a hard foul seventh-inning shot off the bat of Christian Walker tipped directly between his legs.
Cal Raleigh has been with the Mariners since his rookie year in 2021, and this is the first time he has been put in the IL. Earlier, on May 1, he was playing through discomfort. Manager Dan Wilson chose not to test his durability and scratched him from the roster for the next game. The 29-year-old had to sit out the games on May 3 and 4 as well, due to soreness. He returned on May 5.
Wilson was optimistic that the discomfort wouldn’t be a big issue.
“He’s fine,” the manager said after Cal was replaced on Wednesday. “It was just, again, kind of precautionary at this point, and we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Cal Raleigh is indeed heading to the IL for the first time in his career, with a right oblique strain.
Jhonny Pereda arrived this morning here in Houston from Triple-A Tacoma. He’ll have a timeshare for the time being with Mitch Garver.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 14, 2026
However, the franchise had to take the precaution up a notch and put him on a 10-day injury list on Thursday morning. That puts him for a return on May 24.
Although there isn’t a bone fracture, the soft-tissue muscle injury is expected to heal soon enough. But there isn’t a fixed date yet. For catchers, this specific injury is notoriously ominous.
The violent torquing motion required for both swinging a bat and throwing out baserunners puts immense, repeated stress directly on the core.
Any negative development might require around four to six weeks of recovery for Raleigh. This is not an ideal situation for the Mariners with a 22-23 record in 2026.
Wilson had been trying to avoid exactly this kind of situation. He had put Raleigh on DH to improve his batting average (.161 this season). He started 29 out of 41 games as a catcher in 2026. But now it seems like he needs more recovery time.
Cal Raleigh’s absence is more threatening than ever despite his hitting slump.
Cal Raleigh’s sudden IL trip deepens the Mariners’ alarming slump
This is the first time since his rookie season Raleigh has recorded a below .200 AVG. But during the second game against Houston, he snapped his slump with two hits and three runs from four at-bats. That provided much-needed relief for the Mariners’ offense, which was really short-lived.
Raleigh is coming off a monster 2025 campaign where he smashed 60 home runs and finished as the AL MVP runner-up. He was 20 points shy of Aaron Judge from the New York Yankees. And just as the Mariners thought it was taking a turn towards the positive, they suffered this blow.
The franchise is second in the AL West and 26th in MLB with a .230 batting average. But it isn’t just about offense.
Raleigh has been a vocal and emotional leader in the clubhouse. His understanding of the pitchers or the way he can motivate Seattle is unmatched.
He fired up the entire stadium after the American League West division title, saying, “Might as well go win the whole f—ing thing!”
And his teammates love him leading the pack.
J.P. Crawford had earlier praised his style: “He’s not afraid to say something that needs to be said, and it shows you what type of leader he is.”
Hence, the absence will have a severe impact on the clubhouse.
The Mariners have called up Jhonny Pereda from Triple-A Tacoma to replace Raleigh. He has been hitting .321 in the minors with a .831 OPS. But he has little experience in the majors.
He will probably serve as a backup while Mitch Garver will be the primary catcher, who took over the catching duties on Wednesday, too. Garver isn’t a huge improvement with a .167 batting average and no HRs in 20 games. But he’ll have to do.
In the meantime, Seattle will pray for Cal Raleigh’s quick recovery and hope that he finds better contact once he returns to the plate.
Written by
Edited by
Arunaditya Aima