Highland graduate Luke Raley readies for Triple-A season

Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Luke Raley is eagerly awaiting the chance to compete against a real opponent. For someone as competitive as the former Highland standout, the nearly two-year gap between playing in regular-season games has been difficult to navigate. From injuries to the COVID-19 pandemic, the clock on when Raley would get to play has been reset numerous times since May 2019, but now the countdown is measured in days, not months. "I couldn't be more excited to be able to play baseball that really means something," Raley said. "I've played in spring training games and that's all great, but it's not the same as a regular-season game that means something and adds to your record." In May 2019, when Raley was playing for the Rochester Red Wings, then a Minnesota Twins affiliate, he suffered what he called at the time the most significant injury of his baseball career, damaging a tendon in his foot. The injury required surgery and ended his first season at Triple-A after just 33 games. Raley was batting .302 with six doubles, seven home runs, 28 runs and 21 RBIs. Raley was later traded back to a Dodgers organization that took him in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Lake Erie College. He spent the entirety of the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season at the alternate training site, which was on the campus of the University of Southern California. There, Raley and other potential callups worked alongside top young prospects to stay sharp. "It was different, for sure (at the alternate site)," Raley said. "We all worked out together, did some cage work and some defensive work, a lot of practice time." Raley once again is working on his game at the Dodgers' alternate training site, which this season is the club's spring training home of Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. That is where he expects to stay until the team's Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City Dodgers, kicks off the season on May 6. Instead of just practices, this year minor league clubs will be able to hold exhibition games against nearby teams. When he last played a full season in 2018, the 26-year-old Raley was a Double-A All-Star in the Texas League for the Tulsa Drillers before being traded to the Twins organization in a deadline deal. In 120 games with the Drillers and the Chattanooga Lookouts that year, Raley hit .275 average with 20 home runs, 19 doubles, eight triples, 80 runs and 69 RBIs. The 2013 Division I first-team All-Ohioan will be looking to reclaim that form when the 2021 season begins next month. Raley had one double in 16 at-bats with one RBI and three runs in spring training with the 2020 World Series champions before being sent to Triple-A. While his production at the plate was not what he was hoping for, Raley said he was working on some elements of his swing and is in a better place now. "When I got to spring training, we made a couple swing adjustments to get going, but it's going better now," Raley said. "More than anything, I'm just trying to stay ready if the big league team needs me. "That's what it is, staying ready, working hard and doing what you can do to make yourself the best baseball player you can be." Whether it's with the big league Dodgers at some point this season or with Oklahoma City all year, Raley is excited to get back into a familiar routine and the daily grind of playing baseball games every day. It's something that has been missing from his life for too long. "I couldn't be more excited to be able to play baseball that really means something," Raley said. "Where you are competing for a playoff spot or your record matters, that's what I'm most excited for this season." Contact John Urchek at sports@medina-gazette.com.