One Mariners OF nears return, another still a ways out

The Seattle Mariners may get a member of their opening day starting lineup back soon, but another won’t return until at least the final month of the season.

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General manager Justin Hollander said Tuesday that first baseman/outfielder Luke Raley will join the club in Seattle on Wednesday to ramp up the swinging portion of baseball activities. Raley, who went on the injured list in late April with an oblique strain, will begin a minor league rehab assignment the week of June 3, barring any setbacks.

“Rails has done great, really positive about how he’s feeling,” Hollander said. “It’s a very tricky injury, so things could change depending on how he feels when he really starts swinging, but he has done great. He’s checked every box along the way.”

The M’s anticipate Raley will need at least one week of playing on a rehab assignment before returning to the big league club.

“It’s just been a while and he’s got to build up to nine innings and playing the field and running around,” Hollander said.

Where Raley plays when he returns to the big league club could be impacted by the recent addition of outfielder Leody Taveras. Raley typically mans right field when he’s in the outfield, and Taveras has appeared in 15 games in right since the M’s acquired him off waivers from the division rival Texas Rangers three weeks ago.

Hollander said he anticipates Raley will play first base and multiple outfield positions during his rehab stint.

While Raley appears to be getting close to returning, right fielder Victor Robles is still more than three months away from possibly being back on a major league field.

Robles is on track to start baseball activities in July and make his return to the M’s in September. He suffered a dislocation and bone fracture in his shoulder while diving into the netting to make a highlight-reel grab during a game in San Francisco on April 6.

Hollander said Robles’ most recent scans “showed stability and good healing in the fracture,” but he will need a while to rebuild strength in his shoulder.

“When you’re in a sling that long and sort of not moving around, as anticipated, he’s not as strong as he would like to be,” Hollander said.

Hollander clarified that there has not been a setback for Robles and that the initial 12-week time frame given after his injury was for the resumption of baseball activities.

The Mariners’ general manager offered updates on several other injured players. Here are those updates.

• Right-hander Jackson Kowar is nearing activation as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery last March. Hollander said the reliever is “basically there in terms of being ready to be activated” and the club will check in this week to see where he’s at.

Kowar pitched two innings with the M’s Arizona Complex League affiliate before logging six appearances with Triple-A Tacoma since May 10. He he’s allowed one run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts over five innings with the Rainiers.

“It’s been really nice to have the build-up time with him, and he’s checked every box along the way,” Hollander said.

• Right-hander Gregory Santos is in the first stage of his throwing progression and could potentially return to game activity in July. The hard-throwing reliever is on the 60-day IL with right knee inflammation.

• Left-hander Tayler Saucedo, who is dealing with an injured right knee, is also in a throwing progression with an expected return to game activity in July.

• Right-hander Trent Thornton threw a bullpen session Tuesday and is scheduled to throw a live batting practice May 30. Thornton, who underwent surgery for appendicitis earlier this month, could begin a rehab assignment after the live BP.

• Shortstop prospect Felnin Celesten was checked for vertigo-like symptoms after experiencing dizziness that kept him out for nearly two weeks with Single-A Modesto. Celesten, ranked as the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, is back in the Nuts’ lineup at designated hitter and is anticipated to return to the field soon.

“(He’s) feeling better now. The dizziness, we don’t really have a way of tracking what it came from, whether it was just like a viral thing or something else was going on,” Hollander said. “… It was a little weird that, when he would ramp up activity, it was almost like things started to move. So we’re back on the mend now.”

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