How ‘challenging’ year led Luke Raley to a new offseason focus

Luke Raley felt the sting of the end of the 2025 season just like every other player in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse that October night in Toronto. If at some point he felt a measure of relief, that would have been understandable. The 2025 season was a lost year for the Mariners outfielder, derailed early by an oblique injury suffered in late April and back problems that plagued him shortly after his return.

“It was a bummer last year, especially in the postseason,” he admitted. “I didn’t really get to help the team in any way other than just being there and being supportive for the guys. But yeah, it’s tough. Going through injuries, it stinks.”

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The year had begun promisingly enough with Raley coming off a season where he posted a career high 3.2 bWAR, with a .895 OPS in the second half. He had established himself as a difference maker against right-handed pitching and was set to get a good number of plate appearances split between the outfield, DH and perhaps some first base. All that unraveled, however, when he felt a pull in his side in batting practice. He was diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain and would miss the next two months. His return did not go smoothly. Three weeks later he stood in front of the Mariners media who were on hand in Sacramento, visibly frustrated having just been placed back on the injured list, this time with back spasms he believed were connected to the original injury.

“I’m not going to be one that just like lays it down and quits. But yeah, it was challenging,” he said. “When I came back from the oblique, it just never felt right. Didn’t feel like myself. And especially when you’re hitting, like a millisecond makes a huge difference. So it’s like, was my bat speed a little slower? Like, what was going on? Could I not make the move I wanted to make? I’ve tweaked a hamstring or a quad and you come back from that and it doesn’t affect your swing. It’s the oblique. You can’t do anything. It affects your running. It affects your throwing, your swinging. It doesn’t matter. You use it in everything you do.”

After a two week stint on the IL, Raley was able to return but played sporadically hitting just .143/.234/.190/.425 with no home runs in 24 games. He was clearly not himself but in August and September of a playoff push, there is not much a player can do about it if he is not physically right, particularly with his core. A reworked offseason is what that would require. Raley had come to the realization that at age 30 he was at the point where things he had done in the past perhaps weren’t working the way they had when he was younger.

“I just think that was important and I hadn’t really dealt with an injury like that in the past,” he said. “So it’s more like, you come to the realization that you’re getting a little older and you got to do some more things to make sure your body’s in the right shape to go out and play all the time.”

Doing the work wasn’t the issue. One look at him tells you that. He is clearly someone who spends a lot of time in the weight room. His skillset is unique for a player his size as he is able to steal a base, run out a bunt, cover ground in the outfield and just as easily crush a ball over the fence. What the core injury showed him, however, was something he was lacking at this point in his career: flexibility. To that end, he went to work with a new focus this winter.

“I rested for a little bit longer, made sure I was all healed up, did some physical therapy,” he said. “And then I just decided to do some yoga and I said, it can’t hurt, get more flexible. But I just thought that was going to be important for me. Just do things to maintain my movement other than just put on strength. So now it is yoga first, lifting after.”

Raley led off and played center field in the Cactus League season opener for the Mariners on Friday and came away with hits in both of his plate appearances, something that stood out for manager Dan Wilson.

“That was one of the highlights for me is just seeing him come out of the shoot, hit a rocket, and get things going for him,” Wilson said. “All the stuff that he battled through last year, the injuries and stuff, a tough year from that standpoint. And for him to put the work in that he did this offseason to get healthy and then come out there and do that is awesome. And I know that he can have a huge impact for us. This is a big impact bat. I’m excited to see just all that confidence come back for him. We talk about completing the lineup. He can be a big part of that. And it’s exciting to see that start from him.”

In camp Raley looks like he has in past springs, but the body feels better, more flexible, more limber. He feels better prepared physically to be the player he has been, finally, once again.

“I see myself being the energy for the team and doing things the right way, playing hard,” he said. “It goes a long way. Other guys see it. They play off that. You know, you take the extra base and the next guy gets a base hit and they get an RBI. It means something to them. So it’s just important to go out and play hard and that’s how I take the game.”

While he mostly missed out on the postseason last year, he believes he will have a second chance in October.

“I think that everyone kind of has the same thoughts. We know how good this team can be,” he said. “It’s not a feeling that you get all the time. We know the team we have this year has the potential to do something really special.”

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