Mariners outfielder Luke Raley to undergo season-ending surgery

When Mariners outfielder Luke Raley woke up on the morning of July 31, after a few hours of sleep thanks to a night game at Dodger Stadium less than 12 hours earlier, his left forearm felt stiff and sore.

It wasn’t a new feeling. He’d been dealing with aching pain in his forearm since the Mariners’ series in Cleveland in late June. And he’d played through lesser levels of discomfort since the 2024 season.

But when he went to brush his teeth, he grabbed his toothbrush with his right hand — his dominant side — and went to put on toothpaste with his left hand. When he squeezed the tube, he felt shooting pain and struggled to get any out.

“That’s when I knew,” he said.

Raley met with the training staff, underwent more tests and was placed on the injured list Saturday.

On Thursday, Raley confirmed he will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a serious tear in the flexor tendon in his left forearm. He will travel to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to have Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in arm injuries, perform the procedure Aug. 17.

“If I do it now, I won’t miss any time next season,” he said. “If I waited till the end of the season, I would miss at least the first month.”

Raley has been dealing with some level of discomfort in the flexor area for three seasons. The team treated it with cortisone shots and rest. Since it wasn’t his throwing arm, he was able to play through the minor discomfort.

This year, he got a cortisone shot in the forearm coming out of spring training. But unlike years past, the pain came back sooner than expected. The Mariners couldn’t give him another cortisone injection in that time frame. During the road trip to Cleveland he felt increased pain after a swing. He started wearing a heavy sleeve/brace on the arm to protect the forearm and tendon. It felt tight and restricted his range of motion. The Mariners’ medical staff tried multiple remedies, but none were that successful. He could feel it on swings on away pitches and the arm felt tight with the brace, making his swing feel awkward and slow.

But with his early hitting success and the Mariners struggling to produce offense while failing to play up to expectations, Raley pushed to avoid the injured list. He wanted to try and keep playing in an effort to help the team.

“I felt like I could still play and help the team and if it got to a point where I wasn’t helping the team, I would go on the IL,” he said.

The toothpaste incident helped force a decision. It was starting to affect Raley’s quality of life. Things like picking up his daughter shouldn’t be exercised with caution or feel difficult, he thought.

On the field, he struggled to match his early success. From the Cleveland series until his IL stint, he played in 24 games, posting a .183/.231/.267 slash line with two doubles, a homer, four RBI, three walks and 21 strikeouts in 65 plate appearances.

“I’m not going to use it as an excuse because I’ve also struggled when I’ve been healthy,” he said. “It just wasn’t getting better.”

Raley is under club control for two more seasons as an arbitration-eligible player.