SEATTLE (AP) — Cal Raleigh, who was , took his first swings since the Seattle Mariners catcher .
Last year’s took 30 swings off a tee Friday at the team’s spring training complex in Arizona. The switch hitter took 15 hacks from each side with moderate intensity, according to general manager Justin Hollander.
“He’s doing well right now,” Hollander said of Raleigh. “He’s catching, he’s throwing out to 130 feet, I believe. Just want to build responsibly, and make sure that when he cuts it loose 100%, that he feels 100%.”
There is no timeline for Raleigh to return to the lineup. Raleigh is traveling to Seattle on Saturday for further evaluation, but it is unclear if he’ll remain in the Emerald City, or fly back to Arizona.
Whenever Raleigh is cleared to play, Hollander anticipates he will need a rehab assignment. Manager Dan Wilson, who has kept in regular contact with Raleigh, eagerly awaits his arrival.
“It’ll be great to see him, no doubt,” Wilson said. “I think everyone will be glad to see him. And I think from over here, the recovery is going as expected. But, just to have that leadership around and just who he is as a person, it’ll be great to see him and great to have him around.”
After he was placed on the IL, Raleigh acknowledged he had played through some pain on his right side. From April 28 to May 12, Raleigh went 0 for 38, , until breaking out with two singles .
In 41 games this season, Raleigh is hitting .161 with seven home runs, 18 RBI, four doubles, 18 walks and 16 runs. His .161 batting average is lowest in the majors among 163 qualified batters.
Donovan’s development
All-Star utilityman Brendan Donovan, who was , has progressed to running on a weightless treadmill. Like Raleigh, Hollander expects that Donovan will need a rehab assignment.
Should Donovan continue to fare well on the weightless treadmill, baseball-specific running would be next. The Mariners are taking it slow with Donovan, who also missed time from April 18 to May 7 with a left groin muscle strain.
Donovan underwent sports hernia surgery in October 2025 shortly after his last season with the St. Louis Cardinals, which Hollander recently said the Mariners’ sports performance team anticipated could make him more susceptible to groin strains and core muscle strains.
“These are the types of injuries that you want to be really deliberate with,” Hollander said, “to make sure we don’t have any type of setback like we did last time.”
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