The Mariners offense has been woefully inconsistent and even absent over the past month and a half, largely due to missing key contributors in the outfield. However, it looks like they’ll soon get one of those players back, as Luke Raley is slated to have another rehab start in Tacoma tonight.

In Raley’s most recent start in Tacoma, his third with the club since returning to game action last Thursday, he had his best start yet, with a double, two singles, and a run scored. The double, coming in a 3-0 count, just missed being a home run.

The Mariners have been working Raley back slowly, starting with him serving as Tacoma’s DH for his first game back, where he went 0-for-4. After taking a day off on Friday, he played five innings in right field on Saturday, collecting a hit and also reaching on error; both times he hit the ball over 90 mph EV. Sunday represented his first back-to-back outing, with him playing seven innings at first base. He led off the game with a double (105.3 off the bat), and then smoked two more singles in his next two at-bats (108.7, 104.7). Neither were line-drives; the first was pulled through the 3/4 hole, but the second was a nice piece of two-strike hitting, with Raley shooting the ball right back up the middle.

The challenge for Raley isn’t health; he says the strained oblique feels fine. What he’s working on is getting his timing back, something the club can measure with things like exit velocities but largely rests in the determination of the player himself and how he feels about his swing.

“He’s been hitting the ball hard down there, and all the offensive things have looked very good,” said Dan Wilson. “I think it’s just a matter of, you know, in spring training there’s a time period where you just have to get acclimated to pitchers’ timing again, and that’s not just getting geared up for the fastball, but being able to adjust to all the different speeds as well.

So it’s just a matter of getting reps, it’s getting enough at-bats to where you feel comfortable with that. Luke is in that process right now, and it’s gone pretty quickly.”

A return to the lineup for Raley doesn’t just give the club an offensive boost; it also helps them with defensive flexibility, as well, as Raley can cover both the outfield (his preference) or first base.

Raley’s hard-nosed play style—as witnessed in his dirt-covered Tacoma uniform in the above clips—will also be a welcome return.

“He’s a guy you want in the lineup,” said Wilson. “He’s a grinder. Looking forward to getting him back.”