| Luke Raley | |
| Team: | Seattle Mariners |
| Number: | 20 |
| Position: | Outfielder / First baseman |
| Birth Date: | 19 September 1994 |
| Birth Place: | Hinckley, Ohio, U.S. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | April 9 |
| Debutyear: | 2021 |
| Debutteam: | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | August 19, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .234 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 37 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 96 |
| Teams: |
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Lucas John Raley (born September 19, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays.
Raley graduated from Highland High School in Medina, Ohio.[1] He was named to the Ohio All-State Baseball Team as a senior.[2] After going undrafted out of high school, he enrolled at Lake Erie College, where he played college baseball. In 2014, he briefly played collegiate summer baseball for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[3] As a junior at Lake Erie, he hit .424 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a .528 on-base percentage in 47 games.[4] After his junior year, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB draft,[5] and he signed for $150,000.[6]
After signing, Raley was assigned to the Arizona League Dodgers. After batting .625 in five games, was promoted to the Ogden Raptors, and after batting .417 in five games with Ogden, he was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons.[7] He finished the season with Great Lakes batting .245[8] with two home runs and 17 RBIs in 56 games. In 2017, Raley played for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes where he slashed .295/.375/.473 with 14 home runs and 62 RBIs in 123 games[9] and was named a California League All-Star.[10] He began 2018 with the Tulsa Drillers,[11] being selected to the Texas League All-Star Game.[12]
On July 31, 2018, Raley was traded to the Minnesota Twins, along with Devin Smeltzer and Logan Forsythe for Brian Dozier.[13] He was assigned to the Chattanooga Lookouts and finished the season there. In 120 total games between Tulsa and Chattanooga, he hit .275 with twenty home runs and 69 RBIs.[14] He spent 2019 with the Rochester Red Wings,[15] playing in only 33 games due to injury and hitting .302/.362/.516/.878 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.[16] He played for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League following the 2019 season.[17] Raley was added to the Twins 40-man roster on November 20, 2019.[18]
On February 10, 2020, the Twins traded Raley, Brusdar Graterol and the 67th pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft to the Dodgers for Kenta Maeda, Jaír Camargo, and cash considerations.[19] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 9, 2021, Raley was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[20] He made his MLB debut that night as a defensive replacement in right field in the eighth inning. In his first at-bat, he grounded out to first base against Sam Clay of the Washington Nationals.[21] His first career hit came on April 14, an opposite-field double against Daniel Bard of the Colorado Rockies.[22] On April 16, Raley hit his first career home run off of Dan Altavilla of the San Diego Padres.[23] He appeared in 33 games for the Dodgers during the season, hitting .182 with two home runs and four RBI.[24] He also appeared in 72 games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, hitting .294 with 19 homers and 69 RBI.[25] He struck out in his one at-bat in the Wild Card Game, his first post-season appearance.[24]
On March 18, 2022, Raley was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Tanner Dodson.[26] Raley began the 2022 season with the Durham Bulls, where he batted .299/.374/.575 with 7 home runs and 25 RBIs in 24 games.[9] He was promoted to the major league roster on June 21, 2022, following injuries to Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot.[27] Raley finished the year playing in 22 games, hitting .197 with one home run.
Raley made the major league team out of Spring Training, in part because he was out of minor league options. Raley established himself as a regular on the team, slashing .249/.333/.490 with 19 home runs and 49 RBIs in 118 games[24] before suffering an injury on a collision during batting practice on September 16 that cost him most of the rest of the season.[28]
On January 5, 2024, the Rays traded Raley to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for José Caballero.[29]