SEATTLE -- Cal Raleigh was scratched from the Mariners’ lineup before Saturday’s game against the Royals due to "general soreness," manager Dan Wilson said following Seattle's 3-2 extra-innings loss.
But the soreness was severe enough to warrant imaging, the results of which the club is now awaiting.
“We're kind of trying to be as cautious as possible,” Wilson said.
Asked specifically what part of Raleigh’s body is being reviewed, Wilson preferred not to say.
“Once we find out more about it, tomorrow, we'll talk about it more,” Wilson said.
What’s his level of concern?
“Right now, it's day to day,” Wilson said. “So again, once we get a little bit more information, we'll have a little bit of a better idea.”
Regardless, it was clear that the Mariners intended to avoid Raleigh in any scenario on Saturday, because there were multiple instances where they could’ve used him as a pinch-hitter -- especially in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm.
Wilson instead went to Rob Refsnyder, who was out of Friday’s lineup with sore knees, and Connor Joe, who’s been a platoon bench bat but did hit a huge homer in Friday’s 7-6 loss.
Raleigh was not seen in the dugout throughout Randy Johnson’s retirement ceremony pregame on Saturday or during the game.
The American League MVP runner-up was slated to start at catcher and hit in the No. 2 spot against right-hander Seth Lugo, but was replaced by Mitch Garver behind the plate, with Garver slotted at No. 8. Garver then went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and had a critical pickoff attempt allow the eventual game-winning run to move from second to third base.
At almost the exact same time that Raleigh was scratched, Triple-A Tacoma announced that it had also scratched its starting catcher -- Jhonny Pereda -- then shortly after, it became clear why.
Pereda was recalled from Tacoma, but not as a roster replacement for Raleigh. At least not for now.
The corresponding move was infielder Will Wilson being placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 30) with a fractured left thumb. But teams typically don’t carry three catchers, especially a team whose primary backstop plays as much as any in the sport.
Pereda is the Mariners’ only catcher on the 40-man roster beyond Raleigh and Garver, and has been the No. 3 on the depth chart since being acquired from the Twins on Jan. 27 in exchange for cash considerations.
He’s also been off to a solid start for the Rainiers, slashing .333/.418/.436 (.853 OPS) with two homers and two doubles over 92 plate appearances across 23 games.
Raleigh had started in 32 of the Mariners’ first 33 games of the season -- 25 at catcher and seven at designated hitter -- the lone exception being on March 30 against the Yankees, when he came off the bench and ripped a walk-off single.
A slow start stalled him in the early weeks, but he’s begun to heat up, with five of his seven homers coming over his past 10 games. Overall, he’s slashing .186/.272/.380 (.652 OPS) with four doubles, 18 RBIs, a 29.3% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate.