It speaks to Raleigh\u2019s strong sense of responsibility when it comes to the team\u2019s successes and failures. He rarely takes credit in the good times but is quick to shoulder the blame in the struggles.<\/p>\n
Still, Raleigh couldn\u2019t say no to playing for the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity, and you don\u2019t get this chance very often,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He will be a part of a loaded team that is considered one of the favorites along with the Dominican Republic and Japan, the defending champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe No. 1 goal is just winning the whole thing, trying to have the opportunity to do that,\u201d Raleigh said. \u201cThere should be some tough teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there is an added benefit of participating. Learning from others.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, just to be in that locker room with everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many great players and so many great baseball minds on the coaching staff. It\u2019s really impressive the group that they put together. For me, I\u2019ve only ever been around the Seattle Mariners and this spring training and this group. Sometimes it\u2019s good to get your eyes on a different locker room, a different vibe. Maybe somebody does something differently. Maybe somebody does something better than what you do. Or maybe we do something really good that you want to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raleigh gets to talk baseball with his peers and players he admired from afar. It\u2019s an aspect of the game he relishes. If he learns even one thing from the experience that helps the Mariners to win the division for a second straight season, return to the playoffs and advance to the World Series, then the whole process will be a success.<\/p>\n
Raleigh is excited to have teammate Gabe Speier on the team with him. He knows what the left-handed reliever has been through over the past few seasons and believes his selection was deserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best left-handed relievers in the game,\u201d Raleigh said. \u201cHe\u2019s earned every bit of it. (Coming back) from a tough year and an injury, and to have the kind of year he had last year, it says a lot about his character.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Logan Gilbert finished his outing Sunday afternoon, he admitted to throwing two sinkers \u2014 a pitch that Raleigh prefers to not use \u2014 and had a few interesting moments from a fielding standpoint.<\/p>\n
He knew Raleigh, his former roommate and constant critic, would be texting or calling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get to play around when he leaves,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to be happy with that. Last game, I threw one sinker. It was a strike, and I heard he rushed out of the hot tub furious. So, I threw two sinkers, two balls, and dove on the ground. He\u2019s not gonna be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It speaks to Raleigh\u2019s strong sense of responsibility when it comes to the team\u2019s successes and failures. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2392],"tags":[5,620,33675,4,619,65,3235],"class_list":{"0":"post-608014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-mariners","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mariners","10":"tag-mariners-baseball","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-seattle","13":"tag-seattle-mariners","14":"tag-seattlemariners"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116177527535263261","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}