Mariners’ Cal Raleigh to begin rehab assignment in Everett | Notebook
On the injured list for the first time in his career, Seattle Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh (oblique strain) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Sunday with the Everett AquaSox.
He’s scheduled to DH for his first game in Everett.
From there, Raleigh will play catcher with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers when they begin a homestand next Tuesday. He is scheduled to remain with the Rainiers through next week; the club will reassess his progress after that.
On Friday, the Mariners begin a 10-day, 10-game trip to the East Coast, and all signs point toward Raleigh being activated when the team returns to Seattle on June 16 for a weeklong homestand vs. Baltimore and Boston.
After landing on the IL on May 14, Raleigh spent about two weeks in Arizona recovering from a right oblique strain, then rejoined the Mariners this past weekend in Seattle to continue his recovery with the team’s training staff.
He caught Bryan Woo’s side session in the bullpen on Monday, and then squatted behind the plate on Tuesday to work on catching drills. He’s also taken regular swings in the batting cages.
“He’s getting to a point where he’s getting much stronger and looks like we’re on a good path,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said Wednesday morning. ” … It seems to be just progressing as should be, and so it’s really a good sign, and credit to Cal to put in all that work and get to where he is.”
Wilson said the All-Star catcher is also in a good frame of mind.
“He seems much more relaxed … and that’s a great thing,” Wilson said. “I remember my first stint on the on the IL … and it does give you a different perspective. And I’m sure that has happened with Cal, too. It’s all positive things, and he’s used the time well and wisely and has gotten himself physically and mentally ready to play.”
Miller, Castillo to start in Detroit
After a day off Thursday, the Mariners on Friday will begin a stretch of 16 games in 17 days.
The loaded scheduled is part of the reason the club announced last week that it would go back to a six-man starting rotation for the next two turns, hitting pause on the piggyback experiment with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo.
In three games as the piggyback tandem, Miller and Castillo combined to throw 27 total innings, allowing five earned runs for a 1.67 ERA.
They will each now get two starts on the East Coast trip.
The loaded scheduled is part of the reason the club announced last week that it would go back to a six-man starting rotation for the next two turns, hitting pause on the piggyback experiment with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo.
In three games as the piggyback tandem, Miller and Castillo combined to throw 27 total innings, allowing five earned runs for a 1.67 ERA.
They will each now get two starts on the East Coast trip.