SEATTLE -- Cal Raleigh was out of the Mariners’ lineup for the third straight day for Monday’s series opener against the Braves, but he wasn’t the only notable player sidelined.
The club also revealed that Gabe Speier, their top leverage lefty, has been dealing with inflammation in his pitching shoulder that necessitated him being placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 3).
Additionally, left-hander Jose Suarez -- who the club claimed off waivers from the Braves on Sunday -- reported to the club and will absorb some of the pockets that were delegated to Speier.
Left-hander Josh Simpson was also recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, and righty Cole Wilcox was optioned to Tacoma.
As for Raleigh, he was going through more robust baseball activity on Monday, but not to the point where Mariners manager Dan Wilson said that the all-world catcher could be available off the bench. The club is still considering an IL stint, though position players would only be a minimum of 10 days.
“We’ll have more information once we see how he feels after we’ve done some work today,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said, “and a decision will be forthcoming here in the next day or so.”
IL stints can also be backdated up to three days, so the Mariners could conceivably wait until Tuesday before making a decision without losing any retroactive time. That said, there’s a belief that they could even wait beyond Tuesday and essentially play a man down for this series if he could be available sooner than the allotted IL stint.
“We just have to kind of wait and see how he responds today, and where he's at in terms of that,” Wilson said. “And then we'll have to make a decision.”
As for Speier, his issue has been lingering enough to the point where it was now the right time to put him on the IL. He hadn’t pitched since last Wednesday’s win in Minnesota, when he had to enter in an emergency to take over for Matt Brash, who exited that outing with right lat inflammation, then was placed on the IL himself.
“I don't think it's concerning,” Wilson said. “It's just a matter of being able to give it some time here. And I think he'll be in a good spot here after he gets a little bit of rest and can move on from it.”
Between Speier and Brash, the Mariners are now down two of their three top leverage arms (aside from closer Andrés Muñoz, who most recently pitched in Saturday’s loss, blowing a save). Overall, the Mariners now have 10 players on the IL.
Speier’s specific issues were rooted in a struggle to bounce back from outings, which is obviously problematic in the big leagues when needing to prepare to be ready at a moment’s notice on any given day. Last Wednesday’s outing marked just the second time that he’d pitched on back-to-back days this season.
He’s suggested in passing, too, that his routine was thrown off while pitching for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in March, which caused him to leave Spring Training for nearly three weeks. He also pitched in a career-high 76 games in 2025, and then in some of Seattle’s most intense pockets in the postseason.
On the season, Speier has a 2.92 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 12 strikeouts and five walks in 12 1/3 innings across 15 outings.
Suarez, a former starter, gives the Mariners a more versatile lefty option, having logged at least two innings or more in five of his eight outings with the Braves, who designated him for assignment on Friday.
This year, he’s been leaning more heavily on a changeup, which has generated a 38.3% whiff rate and held hitters to a .250 batting average. But his four-seam fastball, which is averaging 93.4 mph, has been tagged for a .400 clip.
To prepare for a possible IL stint for Raleigh, infielder Ryan Bliss has been at T-Mobile Park the past two days on the club’s taxi squad. He went through extended drills at third base with infield coach Perry Hill on Monday.