Mariners should have put Cal Raleigh on IL weeks ago

Cal Raleigh means quite a bit to the Mariners (and to me), so I hope you'll give me the chance to explain why Raleigh being put on the Injured List for the first time in his career is actually a good thing.

The thrust here isn't to merely explain how and why this happened-others are covering that-but to unpack the egos that delayed this decision and unpack how getting wiser about Raleigh's health now could set a positive precedent for the rest of Raleigh's career.

Cal Raleigh should already be on IL

This injury first materialized, and even forced Raleigh to miss a game, two-plus weeks ago.

Want to guess what happened over the next few weeks after Raleigh and the Mariners brass decided to let him back into the lineup despite still feeling the effects?

If you don't know, you're either a/ not watching Mariners baseball, b/ not keeping tabs on the MLB at all, or c/ surviving at sea following being shipwrecked halfway through your route to deliver goods for the East India Company.

Or a million other, less presumptuous or hyper-specific scenarios. But, at least you're probably not a Mariners-hater (Yankee fans and Trashtros fans leading the charge). See, haters know better than anyone else what's going on with the rival superstars.

Long story short, Raleigh fell into a historic (for him) hitting slump, going 0-for-38 at the plate across a number of series at the start of May. Gee, do you think an injured oblique severely lowering his swing speed during this stretch played a part? It did, in case you didn't gauge the bitter sarcasm.

That slump was headed towards becoming one of the worst in baseball history, until Raleigh showered with his uniform on after a game, then went on to get two hits the next day. Of course, Raleigh was gifted the slump-breaking ball in a heartwarming moment by his teammates. Because, again, this is baseball we're talking about.

Then, on May 15th, Raleigh was promptly sent to the IL ahead of game.

This injury will teach the Mariners how to properly handle Raleigh

Then came the articles at the end of last week on how the Mariners are learning patience from this injury.

Good, great, try to learn even more.

"Right now, we don't anticipate this being a long, long time, or anything like that," Mariners GM Justin Hollander said . "But we want to make sure that when he's next in the game, he's doing it with full confidence and pain-free."

Makes sense, but again there's further depth for the Mariners to plumb. Like questions of when to trust Raleigh, because Raleigh, as a 'gamer,' will always want to play. Here's what they're saying, for the moment:

"I tried to play through it. Unfortunately, what was best for me and the team was just kind of taking some time and getting this thing healthy," Raleigh told the Seattle Times. "

"I think all the guys in there, something's bugging them. Everybody is going through something. You're trying to fight through a small injury here or there.

"And to be honest, I wanted to play. And I wanted to see if I could do it, and to what extent was it going to affect me," Raleigh added. "And I told the trainers ... if I ever got to a point where I was hurting the team, or I couldn't go anymore, I'd let them know. And essentially, it just got to that point."

See, I hear what Raleigh is saying. I believe that he believes what he's saying. But, and here's my point, in this instance-and likely instances to come-his coaches and trainers need to not trust him.

He's tough, and a competitor, and he's going to want to play.

Just being a catcher is already putting an undue toll on the body of a man who has shown he could be an all-time hitter. How long can he stay a dual-threat? It's a fair question, I suppose. There may come a day that he is primarily a DH, but to help Cal get the absolute most out of his career, it's about delaying that day as long as possible. That's how valuable, how rare, Raleigh's special-ness is.

So, given the already outsized workload, the Mariners staff needs to save Cal from his better nature, but worse judgment.

It's a hard job, and Raleigh may not like them for it. But, he'll eventually thank them for it. And, god willing, if it ends up giving the Mariners a better chance to one day compete in a World Series, that is a price well worth paying.

I'm not saying bring load management to baseball. I'm saying reduce the strain on your best player. Help him win by pushing back when he wants to win so badly that it is going to hurt his health. That's the discipline.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 4:55 PM.