Seattle's AL MVP runner-up catcher lands on the injured list for the first time in his six-year career with a right oblique strain.
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is heading to the 10-day injured list as of Thursday due to a right oblique strain, marking the first IL stint of his career through six seasons. The AL MVP runner up missed May 2-4 with right side soreness, eventually leading to his exit in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Houston Astros in the eighth inning after seemingly exacerbating the injury.
The catcher is slashing .161/.243/.317 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs through 41 games. His batting average is the second lowest among qualified hitters. He was previously carrying the longest hitless streak in baseball this season before knocking two singles off in Tuesday’s win over the Astros. Now, he’ll head off the IL for the first time ever, something he obviously won’t want to do, and something manager Dan Wilson acknowledged while believing it was still the “smart” thing to do. The intent is to hopefully preserve his viability in the long run over short-term gains.
To read more about the first-time injury and how Seattle can shuffle things around to handle Raleigh’s absence, here’s the story from Mariners Roundtable writer Brady Farkas.
Last season, Raleigh was setting records, including a franchise-record of 60 home runs and 125 RBIs in his campaign for Seattle. Those metrics also led the AL in both categories, which led to him finishing second in AL MVP votes behind Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
In his absence, the Mariners will call up Jhonny Pereda from Triple-A Tacoma to fill his roster spot.