The Mariners need Cal Raleigh right now, but his ability to deal with an ongoing left thumb injury will be key to his productivity and availability.
Cal Raleigh has proved to be a pleasant surprise for the Mariners this season. As a result, he has become a key part of the lineup.
As of Tuesday morning, Raleigh leads all catchers with 25 home runs, two ahead of his nearest competitor. They have proved to be timely on a number of occasions and Seattle is 20-3 in games when he hits a homer.
The 25-year-old is also sixth among all catchers in RBIs and tied for seventh in slugging percentage. Additionally, pitcher Luis Castillo considers him one of the best behind the plate and has a lot of confidence in him.
A lingering injury
With all this in mind, Raleigh’s recent left thumb injury has been frustrating for all concerned. He originally injured it while sliding into first base during the previous homestand.
Raleigh has been doing his best to play through the pain when possible and has still had his moments. Chief among these was his two hits and three RBIs as a pinch hitter, in Saturday’s come-from-behind 6-5 win versus the Royals.
Unfortunately for the 2018 third round draft pick, he re-aggravated the injury during Sunday’s series finale in Kansas City. It happened when his thumb was hit while catching a pitch from Matt Brash and he was pulled from the game.
This leads to the question of how much Seattle can rely on Raleigh during the final homestand of the regular season? The team is slumping and needs everyone possible to finally secure a playoff spot.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto provided an update on Raleigh to members of the media on Monday. As reported by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Dipoto said:
“With the season dwindling down, there’s really not a lot we can do to help resolve it. Cal is tough, and he keeps pushing to get back in there.”
While Raleigh’s willingness to play is admirable, there are no guarantees regarding his pain tolerance. As Dipoto said:
“Our take on the matter is that as long as he’s not doing anything that’s going to make the matter worse, or create a long-term issue, it’s if he can tolerate it.”
Final push for the playoffs
Entering Tuesday’s action, Seattle has a 3.5 game lead for the final AL Wild Card spot. It will be worth watching how many of the final 10 Mariners games Raleigh is able to play in.
The Mariners have been unlucky of late in general, when it comes to injuries. They have lost the likes of Julio Rodriguez and Eugenio Suarez to the 10-day injured list.
In addition, the timing couldn’t be worse for Seattle with the regular season nearing its end. Dipoto said:
“It’s been such a tough run with late injuries and we were so fortunate for so long to not have to deal with it. Now it’s our turn, and our turn came at a very difficult time. Hopefully, we’ve built up enough momentum in the early going that we can survive this, and I think we can.”
Certainly, Mariners fans will hope Dipoto is right. It’s long overdue to end the longest active playoff drought in the Majors.
Are you confident Raleigh will continue to be able to produce for the Mariners despite his thumb issue? What is your take on him in general this season? Let us know in the comments section below.
