Mariners’ Luke Raley aims ‘to have more fun’ after injury-riddled 2025

PEORIA, Ariz. — During the toughest season of his career to date, baseball stopped being fun for Luke Raley.

It’s understandable when considering how much of the last year was spent by Raley not playing baseball and dealing with injuries that left him a spectator for more than half the season.

“There was points where I would feel better after the injury and then it would seem like it would come back. And it was kind of a battle I was fighting all year,” Raley said. “It was really hard last year mentally. So I just want to have more fun this year. I think that’s the big thing. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform when I wasn’t performing.”

There’s a healthy debate to be made that if Raley can avoid the injury bug and contribute at the pace he did two years ago, the depth of the Mariners’ roster increases significantly. Two seasons ago, Raley was a 3-win player by Baseball-Reference WAR (wins above replacement). Getting that level of contribution from a role player who can play multiple positions is the type of luxury other teams would love to have.

But seeing Raley perform to that level first means showing that he can stay healthy after the frustrations of last season, when he played only 73 games in the regular season and batted just .202 with four homers — the lowest numbers since he became established in the majors.

The difficult season for the left-handed hitter started one day in batting practice in late April when he left the field holding his right side after falling to a knee to finish a swing. It was a painful oblique injury that cost Raley nearly two months. When he returned, it still wasn’t clear sailing. His swing could never find consistency and he landed on the injured list a second time in late July after back spasms flared up from simply fielding balls during batting practice one day in Anaheim, Calif.

While they were months apart, the oblique and the back were likely connected injuries. Raley returned in time for the stretch run in September and the playoffs, but he was used sparingly. He had just six hits the final 24 games of the regular season he played in, and in the playoffs only appeared in the ALDS and didn’t have a hit in six plate appearances.

“Last season is really hard to judge because obviously I struggled, but I didn’t know how much was I struggling, or was I not healthy?” Raley said.

Raley felt the rotation in his swing wasn’t right from the moment the oblique strain happened. It left his barrel in wrong spots as it came through the zone and led to less contact.

In an effort to combat seeing the same issues emerge again, Raley changed his offseason regimen. There was less weightlifting and more yoga and Pilates. Raley didn’t start working on his swing until after the first of the year, when in previous offseasons he would have been in the cage starting around Thanksgiving.

The hope is that the core strength built during the winter will carry into the regular season and help avert a repeat of last year.

“I’d never gone through something like that, a core injury like that. So I just wanted to get in there and work on it, and do what I could to be healthy when I came back,” Raley said.

Assuming Raley can stay healthy, his role becomes the next question. He has the versatility to play all three outfield positions, and last year he dabbled at first base. He could be a super-sub that is able to give any outfielder or starting first baseman Josh Naylor a day off when needed. Raley also could be part of a platoon or rotation in right field with Victor Robles and Dominic Canzone and get regular playing time when a right-hander is on the mound.

“All three of those guys you mentioned have made serious impacts on our club over the last year or so, and having all three of them is big,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said. “Luke and Vic really battled a lot of injuries last year and got through it, and now are healthy and ready to make an impact along with Dom. So we’re in a good spot.”

Whatever his role ends up being, Raley wants to go back to enjoying the game as he did before last season. He wants to play and contribute. But he also wants to enjoy the clubhouse and being around his teammates and with a talented team that has high expectations.

“I think that I’ve always had fun until last year, but I’ve always kind of performed until last year. So I think the bigger thing that I mean by that is I don’t want just my performance to (determine) if I’m having fun or not. I want to enjoy being in the clubhouse with the guys and being on the field with the guys, and the perks that come with this job,” Raley said.

“Sometimes it’s easy forget those things when you’re struggling, he continued. I think that in the long run that’ll help. If I do go through a struggle, which everyone does throughout the season, being able to bounce back quicker. It’s just those kinds of things. Just be able to enjoy it — enjoy my time playing baseball.”