J-Rod, Raley out of lineup, Naylor returns in series finale vs. O's

SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez was out of the Mariners’ lineup for Thursday’s matinee vs. the Orioles, but he did go through agility work in the outfield with Seattle’s athletic training staff before hitting in the batting cages.

The star center fielder appeared to move well and remains day to day with the left hamstring spasm that first surfaced on a leaping catch during the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to Baltimore.

“Hopefully tomorrow, he's in a different spot, and I think it's always tricky with a quick turnaround,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So a chance today to kind of sit back and give that a little bit of rest.”

Luke Raley was also sidelined again on Thursday, but not due to the lower back tightness that emerged earlier this week. The slugging corner outfielder has also been battling a flu bug that’s "kind of knocked him out a little bit,” Wilson said.

"But expect him probably back here tomorrow, and back at it."

Separately, Josh Naylor was reinstalled among the starting nine, batting third and playing first base. He missed the past two games with lingering right wrist soreness and exited Sunday’s game in Washington after fouling a ball hard off his right shin.

The shin was fine upon returning to Seattle, per general manager Justin Hollander, but the wrist “was particularly bothering him” during the latter stages of the Mariners’ recent 10-game road trip.

“It's a matter of continuing to monitor how it responds,” Wilson added on Thursday. “But we know Naylz, and he's as tough as they come in terms of injuries. He plays as hard as anybody in the league, and those things are going to happen from time to time. So it's just something we're going to have to continue to watch.”

Meanwhile, Randy Arozarena went through light running in the outfield early Thursday. He suffered a left hamstring strain on Friday in Washington and was placed on the 10-day IL before Tuesday’s game, though it was retroactive to June 13. The Mariners believe that he’ll be able to return when he’s first eligible, which would be Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

“It looks like he's on track,” Wilson said. “And the word we're getting from the training room is that he's meeting all the standards that they were hoping for.”

Elsewhere in the lineup, Cal Raleigh was at designated hitter and Mitch Garver was at catcher on Thursday. It’s possible that the Mariners work in a few off-days for the AL MVP runner-up for load management now that he’s back from the right oblique strain that sidelined him for a month.

“Catch-catch-DH has been sort of Cal's routine over the last couple years, particularly last year,” Hollander said. “And at least for the first week or 10 days, we may build in an off-day or two in there for him.”