What to expect from Mariners' Cal Raleigh when he returns Tuesday

After what he described as a "very productive" month of healing and reflection, Cal Raleigh is coming back to the Mariners on Tuesday healthy and refreshed.

"Obviously, getting healthy was No. 1," the All-Star catcher said in an interview with The Times on Monday. "But taking a step back and understanding where I'm at, and understanding where the team is at and watching from afar - it's not what I wanted to do, but ultimately it was a good time to reflect and see what I could do better, see where I can make some adjustments, both as a player and as a teammate."

Raleigh has recovered from a right oblique strain that on May 14 landed him on the injured list for the first time in his career, and he said he will be activated for the start of the Mariners-Orioles series on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners (37-36) went 16-13 during Raleigh's month on the injured list, surging into first place in the American League West for the first time this season.

The team did limp home late Sunday after a 4-6 trip through Detroit, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but the return of Raleigh, J.P. Crawford (hand) and Randy Arozarena (hamstring) could reinvigorate a lineup that leaned heavily on Triple-A replacements for much of the road trip.

While the Mariners were on the East Coast, Raleigh was in Tacoma clubbing five homers in four games during his Triple-A rehab assignment. It certainly appears he's rediscovered his 60-homer swing.

"It's definitely been exciting to be back in uniform and playing," he said. "That's the best part about it, is getting those nerves and those good butterfly feelings back again, which is awesome. Really excited and energetic to get going again."

In virtually every way, 2025 was a most charmed season for Raleigh.

He might have put together the single greatest season by an athlete in Seattle sports history. He signed a long-term extension to remain with the Mariners, won the Home Run Derby, hit more home runs (60) than any catcher (and any switch-hitter) in baseball history and led the Mariners to their deepest postseason run ever.

It's difficult to imagine a player doing more than Raleigh did for the Mariners last year.

His 2026, in contrast, could not have begun any worse.

His sporadic playing time with Team USA and the Arozarena handshake drama during the World Baseball Classic clouded Raleigh's spring.

At the start of the regular season, the timing in his swing appeared off. And just as he started to find a rhythm in mid-April - hitting five home runs with a .928 OPS over 63 plate appearances - his oblique strain first popped up a few days later.

He tried to play through the injury for about 10 days, during which he had an 0-for-38 stretch, the second-longest hitless streak in franchise history.

He aggravated the oblique strain while playing catcher on May 13 in Houston, and then landed on the IL for the first time in his career the next day.

He spent the first two weeks of his recovery away from the team in Arizona, working with the Mariners training staff there, and had a lot of time alone to reflect.

"Looking at it through a different lens … has been very eye opening," he said.

Coming back to a first-place team, Raleigh doesn't have to be the leading man for this club every night. The Mariners are capable of doing great things with their catcher "just" being consistently good.

"You don't want to get hurt, you don't want to go through it, but I think you can use (the time away) for a lot of good," said M's starter Logan Gilbert, one of Raleigh's closest friends on the team. "He doesn't have to be Superman. And fortunately, we've been winning quite a few games recently, so I think when he comes back, hopefully it's just a lot of freedom for him to just be Cal."

Mitch Garver has a modest suggestion for when Raleigh returns to the lineup Tuesday.

"I'd encourage our team to stick him in the middle of the lineup," Garver, the veteran catcher, said. "Let him just ease back into it. He's going to get hot, and when he does then we can scoot him up a little bit. But I would start him in the five-hole and just see how it goes."

Raleigh spent much of last season, and the early part of this season, hitting No. 2 in the M's lineup, which in the modern game is the spot typically reserved for a team's most productive hitter.

"For all the good that was going on last year (for Raleigh), it's still got to be very isolating," Gilbert said. "And then obviously if you come off that and then don't start off super strong, now everybody's on your case. So I think the biggest thing from us … is to circle up around him and be like, ‘Hey, this is (about) the Mariners winning a baseball game.' That's what it is. It doesn't need to be isolating."

The Mariners' catcher puts enough pressure on himself every day to perform at the sport's most demanding position. The idea, as Garver suggested, should be to take some pressure off Raleigh right now, after he'd been grinding through the injury a month ago.

"It's got to feel heavy to know you're hurt and not be able to perform the way you want," Garver said. "It's a vicious cycle. You're hurt and you're not playing well, and you try to play better and work harder and it hurts even more. I hope he doesn't feel that pressure coming back, because we have a good team."

M's reassessing pitching plan

As planned, the Mariners completed two turns through the starting staff with a six-man rotation.

Whether they plan to stick with the six-man rotation, return to the piggyback plan with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo or try something else this week is unclear.

Club coaches and executives were expected to finalize those plans in the next day or two and communicate those details with the pitchers before details are announced publicly.

Gilbert is scheduled to start Tuesday's series opener against the Orioles, and George Kirby is the probable starter Wednesday, the M's announced.

For Thursday, the Mariners have listed "TBA."

Roster moves

The Mariners made two transactions Monday, optioning veteran infielder Patrick Wisdom back to Tacoma. His roster spot will presumably go to Crawford when the veteran shortstop is activated off the injured list Tuesday.

The club will need to make another roster move to open a spot for Raleigh on Tuesday. Jhonny Pereda, the team's No. 3 catcher, has played well during Raleigh's absence, but Pereda does have a minor-league option remaining.

Also Monday, right-handed reliever Domingo González cleared waivers and was outrighted to Tacoma.

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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 5:04 PM.