Cal Raleigh missed his third consecutive game for the Seattle Mariners. The club revealed that Gabe Speier has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 3.
Speier is dealing with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Left-hander Jose Suarez has reported to the club after being claimed off waivers.
Raleigh’s Status Uncertain
Raleigh was undertaking increased baseball activity. However, Mariners manager Dan Wilson indicated that Raleigh would not be available off the bench. The club is considering an IL stint for Raleigh, with a minimum of 10 days for position players.
“We’ll have more information once we see how he feels after we’ve done some work today,” said Wilson, “and a decision will be forthcoming here in the next day or so.” The Mariners could wait until Tuesday before deciding on an IL stint without losing any retroactive time.
There is a belief they could wait beyond Tuesday. The team could essentially play a man down for this series if Raleigh 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 to the Injured List
Speier’s shoulder issue has been persistent. This led to the decision to place him on the IL. He last pitched last Wednesday in Minnesota, taking over for Matt Brash.
Brash exited that outing with right lat inflammation and was placed on the IL himself.
“I don’t think it’s concerning,” Wilson said of Speier’s injury. “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
Left-hander Josh Simpson was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma. Righty Cole Wilcox was optioned to Tacoma. Suarez will absorb some of the pockets that were delegated to Speier.
- Josh Simpson recalled from Triple-A Tacoma
- Cole Wilcox optioned to Tacoma
- Jose Suarez will absorb some of the pockets that were delegated to Speier
Mariners’ Injury Situation
The Mariners are now without Speier and Brash, two of their top leverage arms. Andrés Muñoz most recently pitched in Saturday’s loss. Overall, the Mariners now have 10 players on the IL.
Speier’s issues stemmed from a struggle 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. This caused him to leave Spring Training for nearly three weeks.