Cal Raleigh was absent from the Mariners’ lineup for the third consecutive day for Monday’s series opener against the Braves. Gabe Speier has been dealing with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, which necessitated him being placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 3.
Raleigh’s Status Uncertain
Raleigh was participating in more extensive baseball activities on Monday. However, Mariners manager Dan Wilson indicated that the catcher would not be available off the bench. The club is 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,” Wilson said, “and a decision will be forthcoming here in the next day or so.”
IL stints can be backdated up to three days. The Mariners could conceivably wait until Tuesday before making a decision without losing any retroactive time. 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.”
Speier Lands on IL
Speier’s shoulder issue has been persistent enough that the club decided to place him on the IL. He hadn’t pitched since last Wednesday’s win in Minnesota. He entered that game in an emergency to take over for Matt Brash, who exited with right lat inflammation and was then 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.”
Other Roster Moves
Jose Suarez, claimed off waivers from the Braves on Sunday, has joined the club. He will take over some of the pockets that were delegated to Speier.
Josh Simpson was also recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, and Cole Wilcox was optioned to Tacoma.
- Jose Suarez reported to the club.
- Josh Simpson was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
- Cole Wilcox was optioned to Tacoma.
The Mariners are now without two of their three top leverage arms between Speier and Brash. Andrés Muñoz most recently pitched in Saturday’s loss. Overall, the Mariners now have 10 players on the IL.
Speier’s specific issues involved struggling to bounce back from outings. Last Wednesday’s outing marked just the second time that he’d pitched on back-to-back days this season.
He’s suggested 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 care