Insider Doesn't Expect Mariners to Make Move Despite Cal Raleigh Injury
The Seattle Mariners' lineup took a bit of a hit this week.
Seattle placed All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh on the 10-day injured list on Thursday with a right oblique strain, adding literal insult to injury in what has been a nightmare season for the 29-year-old backstop.
After having an historic season last year, mashing 60 home runs and 125 RBI, Raleigh has gotten off to a dismal start in 2026. In 41 games this season, Raleigh is batting just .161 with seven home runs, 18 RBI and an OPS of .560.
Raleigh's poor start was so bad that he went a career-worst 0-for-38 at the plate before finally collecting a hit against the Houston Astros this week.
Cal Raleigh snapped his hitless streak last night!
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2026
Josh Naylor pretended to track down the ball for him to keep as a souvenir pic.twitter.com/KU0baPftq6
While his absence will put a huge crimp in the Mariners' lineup, his lack of production this season made something of his injury, which finally landed him on the shelf. But even without Raleigh in their lineup, don't expect the ballclub to make any moves, according to this MLB insider.
During an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast on Friday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said he doesn't anticipate the Mariners adding any players with the season just a quarter underway.
"I don't expect them to necessarily make a move, and remember, they did trade Harry Ford in the offseason to the Washington Nationals; he's still in the minor leagues, but he was their top catching prospect," Rosenthal said.
"They're sitting on Mitch Garver right now, who they re-signed because they wanted him to be the backup catcher. Cal Raleigh wanted him to be the backup catcher, and they got [Jhonny] Pereda, who's a strong defensive catcher...I don't necessarily see them making a move."
"I don't expect them to make a move."@Ken_Rosenthal says the Mariners' plan is likely to ride it out internally until Cal Raleigh returns. pic.twitter.com/Vco4QBnmWx
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 15, 2026
As Rosenthal alluded to, the Mariners seem to have some depth at the catcher position after re-signing Garver in the offseason, as well as having a promising young catcher in Pereda.
Even though Garver and Pereda don't provide much offense, the same was true of Raleigh when he was in the lineup.
The Mariners holding firm on not making any significant moves may also be due to the season being just a quarter through and the American League West still wide open, as Seattle enters Friday just a game out of first place behind the Athletics.
So for now, the Mariners seem content with the guys they currently have, especially with their depth at the catcher's spot.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:40 PM.