Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh made a cameo appearance in the dugout during last night’s 5-1 win against the Diamondbacks, marking the first time he’s been in Seattle since going to the Mariners’ facility in Arizona a week ago to rehab his injured oblique.
Despite a plan to have him at the park pregame, Raleigh was delayed getting into town and only popped up in the dugout in the sixth inning, surprising his teammates, who had been asking where Cal was all day.
“I was glad I got to come watch a good
one last night, and see the boys, and hang out in the dugout,” Raleigh told the media during a pregame scrum on Sunday.
It was a brief respite for Raleigh from what he describes as “a lot of nothing” in his rehab in Arizona, getting to be close to his team again and in a game situation, even if it wasn’t one he was playing in.
“It was good to get down there and focus on what I needed to focus on, but I miss the guys. I miss being here each day. It’s tough, watching these games on TV.”
Raleigh is progressing steadily in his rehab, doing tee work and flips at moderate intensity, standing in (no swings) on bullpens and against the Trajekt machine, and even caught a bullpen while in Arizona. A complicating factor in Raleigh’s rehab is the fact that he’s a switch-hitter, so he feels the injury differently from each side: more at the beginning of the swing when hitting right-handed and more at the end of the swing when hitting lefty. Yesterday he hit off a tee, fifteen swings per side, and said it went well.
“Felt really good, really promising. Didn’t feel anything. Obviously you’re not going as hard as you can but it felt good to get in there, take some swings, and feel the ball off the bat, see where we’re at.”
Today’s plan involves mostly monitoring, checking in with the training staff and doing light rehab, before attempting to dial up the intensity tomorrow. Raleigh is hoping to have a better idea by Wednesday of what the next steps will look like, saying rehab games are “still up in the air,” but he seems optimistic that the bulk of his Arizona time is over, saying “I think for the most part I’ll probably be up here for good.” (Source: Cal Raleigh, notably not GM Justin Hollander, head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, or any of the other stakeholders.)
“These next two days will be pretty telling as far as how things are going. Ramping up the baseball slowly but surely, checking boxes, and from there it’ll just be communication with the staff and trying to set a plan up to get back as soon as I can.”
‘As soon as he can’ comes with caveats. For as anxious as Raleigh is to get back on the field, he’s aware of the specific nature of an oblique injury and the challenges rehabbing one can present. From talking with good friend Luke Raley, who dealt with a similar injury last year, Raleigh knows how temperamental oblique muscles can be in the rehab process.
“The hard part about it is you can’t really replicate in-game swings, having that same kind of energy and percentile and that adrenaline going, it’s hard to replicate. So everything can feel great now, and then you get into a game and you might feel it, or have a little setback. So I’m just hoping with all the work I put in it’ll get there. I’m trying to be smart about getting back as quick as I can, but making sure this thing doesn’t linger for the rest of the year. It’s definitely been a topic we’ve talked about a lot.”
So Raleigh is attempting to practice patience. He’s trying to take things day-by-day, but for a player who is used to being one of the first to the park and one of the last to leave, with every free moment tightly scheduled in between, the sudden shift in schedule has been a sudden and unwelcome adjustment, requiring Raleigh speed-run the stages of grieving his injury straight to “acceptance.”
“The first couple days didn’t feel real, didn’t feel right. And then once I got to Arizona, it was kind of like, the acceptance stage, I guess. Once I got there, I was able to accept it and realize I had to try to get back as quick as I can. Control what you can control.”
Still, that doesn’t make it fun. Raleigh dryly describes his daily schedule at the complex:
“It’s been rehabbing, rehabbing some more, and then training, lifting weights and running, trying to stay on top of that. And then more rehab stuff. So you get home early, you don’t really know what to do with yourself, just waiting for the games to come on.”
Watching the Mariners from afar for the first time has been both a pain point and a source of introspection, and even inspiration, for Raleigh.
“It’s really hard watching the games on TV. It’s weird, watching it and not being there – it’s like a Twilight Zone kind of feeling. But I think it makes you appreciate it a little more when you’re that far away and you realize you don’t get to do it every day, the thing you love. So it gave me a little more appreciation for getting to play every day, being around the guys. It’s eye-opening…Realizing how much I miss it, how much I enjoy playing the game and being with the guys, it’s very eye-opening.
And it makes me never want to go back on the IL again.”
That bird’s-eye view of the team has also allowed him to take a step back and gain a new perspective on the team: one that maybe wasn’t available to Raleigh as he was mired in his own struggles at the plate.
“The biggest thing I noticed is how talented this team really is. It’s so much fun to watch. Me not being here stinks, and I hate it, but sitting back and realizing, I’m like, oh my gosh, this is a really good team. And the team seems to be hitting a really good stride right now. It’s a lot of fun to watch when we’re doing all three facets of the game like we’re doing it – pitching, hitting, and defense.”
“Watching them do it from afar and seeing them do it without you, you kind of notice a few more things that you don’t really notice when you’re in it. Sometimes you’re so close that you don’t see certain things, or it just takes a while to notice things like that. So it’s been a different kind of perspective.”
Without being able to contribute in games, Raleigh has still found a way to impact his team from afar, even if he rolls his eyes about it.
“I feel like that relative that texts you after every game. Like if anyone hits a home run I’m like, ‘nice swing, dude.’ I feel like such a loser right now, sitting on the bench. So I’m a big cheerleader from afar. I was trying to stay in touch, trying to keep it light and be funny with the guys as much as I could.”
But praise only – any critiques Raleigh has, he’s keeping to himself for now.
“I’m not saying a word. They’re on a five-game winning streak. I don’t want to do anything to mess it up.”
