Mariners’ Cal Raleigh provides update on his injury status

MLB catchers get quite beat up throughout a season, and that’s especially going to be the case if you lead the league in innings caught like the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh did in 2024.

Seattle Mariners Notebook: 40-man roster reset

So when the American League’s Gold Glove winner at catcher joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday to discuss his new award, it was only natural that the conversation turned to any potential injuries he may be dealing with this offseason.

Turns out there’s nothing but good news there.

“I’m all good,” Raleigh said about his health status. “You know, there was a little issue with the finger, but everything was good. No surgeries needed at all this offseason, which is always a plus. For the last month or so, kind of just been taking some down time, clearing the mind and letting the body rest up a little bit before I get back into working out, kind of into the next phase of the offseason.”

That’s an improvement from a year ago. Last offseason, Raleigh underwent surgery to repair an injury to his left thumb, which is his catching hand, an issue that clearly bothered him down the stretch during the 2023 campaign.

A change that Raleigh made in 2024 may be a factor in keeping that thumb healthy. He used a different mitt on his way to winning his first Gold Glove Award, borrowing one from teammate Seby Zavala.

Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports told that story in detail last month (link below), but Raleigh provided a little more insight Monday about the benefits he got from making the switch.

Related: Cal Raleigh used teammate’s mitt on way to Gold Glove win

“There’s nothing wrong with the mitt that I had, it was good, but it was a 33-inch mitt and Seby’s was a 34. At the time when I made the switch, my hand was getting pretty beat up and was pretty swollen,” Raleigh said. “You know, as a catcher, you just kind of keep getting hit in that same spot repeatedly over and over so a few of the guys suggested maybe switching to a bigger glove. Once I did that, I also switched my hand positioning inside the glove – just shifted everything to the left a little more and that way I could free up some space. You know, when I’m catching in the pocket, I’m not getting hit in the finger. So the finger was kind of moved to the side of the pocket and not directly on it so it was not getting hit.”

Raleigh talked about much more with Wyman and Bob, including what it means to him to win a Gold Glove, being named a finalist for a Silver Slugger Award and the upcoming offseason. Listen to the full conversation in the podcast at this link, in the video near the top of this post or the audio player below.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Drayer: Mariners’ two Gold Glovers took different paths to their awards
• Mariners’ Mitch Haniger declines to exercise contract opt out
• Pair of Mariners win American League Gold Glove awards
• Mariners decline option on second baseman Jorge Polanco
• Three hitters the Seattle Mariners should target this offseason

Follow @BrentStecker