SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners are optimistic star catcher Cal Raleigh’s injury won’t keep him out for too long.
General manager Justin Hollander said Friday that imaging on Raleigh’s strained right oblique was similar to slightly improved from what the team saw before he reaggravated the injury on Wednesday in Houston.
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The club plans to shut Raleigh down from baseball activities for a week and have him head down to its facility in Peoria, Ariz., in the coming days.
“Hopefully, we can get the lingering soreness out of there and then he can resume baseball activities, but we’ll go week-to-week with it right now,” Hollander said. “We don’t anticipate this being a long, long time or anything like that, but we want to make sure that when he’s next in the game, he’s doing it with full confidence and pain free.
“The sort of hesitation that can come with not knowing if it’s going to hurt a little bit when you swing, or when it will hurt, is probably not good for him or for us.”
Hollander added Raleigh will receive a shot of some kind for his oblique and the club has “no significant concern” that the injury is something rest can’t heal. He will likely need a rehab assignment before returning to the majors.
Raleigh was slumping at the plate before going on the injured list, which included an 0-for-38 streak that he broke with a pair of singles late in Tuesday’s win over the Astros. In 41 games this season, the switch-hitting slugger was hitting just .161 with a .560 OPS, seven homers and four doubles.
“What was best for me and the team was taking some time and getting this thing healthy.”#Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh spoke to the media prior to tonight’s game for the first time since going on the IL. https://t.co/g8qrQi5G1T pic.twitter.com/dJj9yOhEU1
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) May 16, 2026
Hollander gave updates on several other injured Mariners on Friday.
• The Mariners were reassessing where right-hander Matt Brash (right lat inflammation) is at following his first rehab appearance Thursday night with Triple-A Tacoma. Hollander said the club will decide if their standout high-leverage arm needs to make another rehab outing on Sunday or if he will be activated to the big league roster that day.
Brash, who was placed on the injured list May 1, struck out the side on 15 pitches during a perfect seventh inning in his return to the mound with the Rainiers on Thursday. He fanned all three batters on his slider.
The 28 year old hadn’t allowed a run yet this season before going on the IL, tossing 11 1/3 scoreless inning with eight strikeouts to two walks over 14 appearances.
• Left-hander Gabe Speier (left shoulder inflammation) is set to throw his first bullpen Sunday after being placed on the IL May 4. If all goes well, he could begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday.
“He really feels like he turned a corner last week. I think it was on Wednesday… he said this is the best I felt,” Hollander said. “Rob Scheidegger (Seattle’s vice president of high performance and medicals) and the rest of the staff were really enthused by the way it was coming out in catch play.”
Prior to landing on the IL, Speier posted a 2.92 ERA with 12 strikeouts to five walks in 12 1/3 innings over 15 outings.
• Outfielder Victor Robles (right pectoral strain) will continue his rehab assignment in Tacoma through early next week and the club will then assess if he will be activated for their upcoming road trip, which begins Friday in Kansas City.
Robles, who was placed on the injured list April 8, has been with the Rainiers for nearly two weeks. He was hitting .207 (6 for 29) with a .351 on-base percentage, two doubles, seven walks and 12 strikeouts in nine games entering Friday.
Before the injury, Robles was hitting .231 (3 for 13) with a double and a stolen bases in five games for the M’s.
• After experiencing a setback in his throwing program in late April, right-hander Carlos Vargas (right lat strain) has begun throwing again and likely won’t begin a rehab assignment until late June. The 26 year old was previously expected to be ready for a rehab stint in late May.
• Infielder Miles Mastrobuoni (calf strain) is expected to begin a rehab assignment in mid-June. Mastrobuoni was originally placed on the 10-day injured list at the start of the season with a right calf strain suffered while playing for Italy during the World Baseball Classic. He then strained the left calf after his sixth game back with Tacoma and was eventually moved to the 60-day IL.
• First baseman/third baseman Patrick Wisdom (left oblique strain) could be ready to activated off the IL in the next few days. Wisdom, who was placed on the injured list April 17, began his rehab stint with Tacoma on May 5. In six games since returning entering Friday, he was hitting .235 (4 for 17) with a .647 slugging percentage, two homers, one double, two walks and six strikeouts.
Wisdom made one appearances as a pinch-hitter during his brief stint with the M’s in April and struck out in his only at-bat.
• Infielder Will Wilson (fractured left thumb) will ramp up baseball activities in the few days after X-rays showed healing in his thumb. Wilson went 1 for 5 at the plate in two games with the M’s in late April, which included hitting his first big league home run.
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