Looking rested and refreshed, Cal Raleigh walked to the dais of the new interview room at T-Mobile Park as the highlight video of his playoff clinching walk-off homer and the home run call from Dave Sims played on the television above.
He was all smiles, particularly after manager Scott Servais teased him about his attire — a dapper dark gray sports jacket, black jeans and dress shoes — for the return of the Mariners’ annual pre-spring training luncheon, which had been canceled the past two years due to COVID-19.
It’s a far different look compared to the last time Raleigh spoke to the media at T-Mobile on Oct. 15.
Exhausted after catching 18 straight innings, heartbroken following a 1-0 loss to the Astros that ended Seattle’s postseason run and in obvious discomfort having played the final month of the season in almost a constant state of pain, Raleigh finally offered an up-close look at his mangled left thumb he’d tried to keep out of view in previous interviews. The digit was so swollen it looked more like a bruised bratwurst.
After injuring the thumb while diving into first base late in the season, Raleigh admitted that he had been playing with a small fracture and a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb for the better part of three weeks and it would require surgery in the offseason.
Servais lauded Raleigh’s physical and mental toughness to play through the pain and continue to excel at the plate and behind it. Raleigh shrugged it off.
“That and some numbing helped out a lot,” Raleigh said. “It wasn’t easy, but like I said before, it’s just kind of understanding the situation and knowing what was on the line made it pretty easy for me as far as the decisions to keep playing and wanting to be in there. I had lots of conversations with (Servais) and the training staff. I just wanted to be in there to help the team. I didn’t really care about what was going on (with the thumb). I just wanted to end the (playoff) drought and I wanted to go as far as we could (in) the playoffs. That’s just kind of what was on my mind.”
Fast forward to Wednesday morning where Raleigh wasn’t hiding his hand, leaving his thumb out for all to see.
“I think it looks pretty normal now,” he said. “I’ve got a good scar on there.”
Raleigh underwent surgery to repair the damage a few weeks after that loss to the Astros. Renowned hand specialist Dr. Steve Shin performed the procedure in Los Angeles.
“It went great,” Raleigh said. “The training staff, I’ve been in touch with them it feels like every single day this offseason, just talking through stuff to make sure everything’s good.”
Raleigh spent the last two weeks working out at the team’s spring training facility in Peoria, Arizona, before coming to Seattle for the luncheon.
“We still have a ways to go as the rehab and just strengthening some things here and there,” he said.
But he shouldn’t be limited when pitchers and catchers have their first workouts on Feb. 16. He caught his first bullpen session of the offseason Tuesday with Marco Gonzales throwing off the mound.
“It felt great,” Raleigh said. “I had no issues. I’m looking forward to spring training.”
Raleigh’s backup Tom Murphy, who underwent season-ending surgery on his left shoulder in late June, will also report to spring training ready to participate without limitations.
Murphy suffered a shoulder dislocation of his troublesome left shoulder on May 6, which allowed Raleigh to come up and blossom as the primary catcher in his absence.
“They are both ready to go for full baseball activity,” said Jerry Dipoto, Mariners president of baseball operations.
The Mariners had several other players undergo offseason procedures and most are expected to be ready to go by opening day on March 30, including their top two relievers.
Right-hander Andres Munoz, who pitched through some discomfort in his right foot for much of the season, underwent surgery on Oct. 27.
“Two weeks ago, he left his (walking) boot and he’s in a throwing program,” Dipoto said. “He’s progressing toward the mound, which should take place right about the time we get down to Arizona.”
Right-hander Paul Sewald underwent a procedure to clean up some loose bodies in his right elbow and also a minor procedure on his heel.
“He’s gotten in multiple throwing sessions in now and he should be in a really good place when we get there,” Dipoto said. “We anticipate both guys being ready to throw in games while we’re in Arizona, and we’ll forecast once we get there.”
Fellow reliever Casey Sadler, who was designated for assignment and then re-signed on a minor league contract with an invite to spring training, is expected to be healthy enough to compete to reclaim his spot in the bullpen.
After experiencing shoulder pain in spring training in 2022, Sadler underwent season-ending surgery.
“I spent some time with Casey on Friday,” Dipoto said. “He’s 100%. He’s ready to go. He’s thrown in bullpens. I’m really excited to see what he looks like.”
Sadler was a major contributor in 2021, posting a 0.67 ERA in 40 1/3 innings.
“He was such a big part of our 2021 team,” Dipoto said. “And if we get that version of Casey Sadler with the bullpen group that we currently have, that just takes us to a different level. We’ll need something to replace the loss of Erik Swanson, who was a real contributor for us. Casey has a chance to do that; he’s done it before.”
The Mariners’ two main utility players — Dylan Moore and Sam Haggerty — could be slightly limited in the first full workouts.
Moore underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury in early December and suffered “a bit of a setback” in his recovery and rehab process.
“Nothing to create a concern as it relates to opening day,” Dipoto said. “We’ll have a better idea when we get to Arizona. But he’s in a pretty good place.”
The Mariners hope to use Moore at shortstop at least once per week, usually against a left-handed starter, to give J.P. Crawford a day off and keep him healthy for the entire season.
Sam Haggerty, who suffered a nasty groin strain at the end of last season, started full baseball activity last week. The Mariners haven’t confirmed if he had surgery, but Dipoto said Haggerty has resumed full baseball activity last week.
“He’s a little behind (Raleigh and Murphy),” Dipoto said. “But he’s been hitting for quite some time. So he’s in a good place.”
First baseman Evan White, who underwent hip flexor surgery in 2021 and later sports hernia surgery during spring training, is back to full baseball activity.
White started but never completed three different rehab stints with Tacoma in 2022, each time bothered with hip or core issues.
He’s played 58 total games — 30 MLB games in 2021 and 28 minor league games in 2022 — over the last two seasons. He’s a longshot to make the MLB roster and simply needs quantity — games, innings in the field and at-bats. He has yet to prove he can hit at the MLB level.
His numbers in 28 games with Tacoma were decent if not inspiring, posting a .204/.308/.484 slash line with five doubles, seven homers, 16 RBI, 13 walks and 23 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances.
“Right now, our medical training team believes Evan is as healthy as he’s been since the first incident back in 2021,” Dipoto said. “So the forecast is for him to come into spring training healthier than he has in multiple years.”