Mar. 24—PEORIA, Ariz. — As the plate appearances and games without a hit started to pile up, Luke Raley tried to remind himself that he was working on a few aspects with his swing and that spring training numbers don’t matter, and yet this wasn’t the sort of first impression he wanted to make with his new teammates

“All of them have been extremely welcoming, and that probably made it worse,” he said. “I felt like, because they’re so welcoming and how bad I was struggling, it stunk.”

Playing in his first Cactus League game of the spring on Feb. 25, Raley hit a crisp ground ball up the middle for a single off right-hander Tyler Beede in his second plate appearance of the game.

His next hit didn’t come till March 18 at Peoria Stadium. In his first plate appearance vs. the White Sox, he hit a line drive to center off right-hander Jake Woodford. As he ran to first base, Raley raised both hands in a sarcastic celebration. It was his first hit in nine games and 23 plate appearances.

“It wasn’t feeling great at the beginning,” he said. “I was making a couple of adjustments and just things weren’t going my way. But I stuck with it and kept working hard and it’s starting to feel better.”

After getting his second hit, he got hits in four of his next five games, including Sunday’s Cactus League finale at Peoria Stadium.

In his second plate appearance, Raley launched a deep fly ball to center field that Cubs outfielder Alexander Canario couldn’t catch at the wall. Raley showcased his plus speed, racing around the bases for a triple.

“He can really move and when he opens it up, you saw it on the triple going from second to third,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “He’s a long strider. It doesn’t look like he would be fast, but he is and I think he’s done a nice job at first base.”

But Raley’s biggest hit of the spring came in his next plate appearance. With the bases loaded, he ripped a line drive into the left-center gap that cleared the bases for a double.

“His timing is getting better with its consistency,” Servais said. “There is still going to be little bit of swinging and missing in his game, but he’s turned it on here the last four or five games.”

Having quality at-bats and getting results going into spring training makes it easier to forget the earlier struggles.

“There’s no better time to do it than right now when the season is about to get going,” Raley said.

The Mariners acquired Raley from the Rays in the offseason in exchange for infielder Jose Caballero. It was a trade that addressed immediate needs for both teams.

Raley, a left-handed power hitter, had a breakout season with the Rays in a platoon role. He played in 118 games and posted a .249/.333/.490 slash line with 23 doubles, three triples, 19 homers, 49 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 28 walks and 128 strikeouts in 406 plate appearances.

The Mariners expected Raley to play outfield on most days, seeing the majority of time in left field and also playing right field when Mitch Haniger needed a day off.

But the offseason work from Dominic Canzone and his torrid production this spring might change the equation on playing time. Canzone posted a .316/.372/.737 slash line this spring with 12 hits, including four doubles, four homers, 11 RBI, four walks and 11 strikeouts.

Both Raley and Canzone are left-handed hitters that play corner outfield spots. With Mitch Garver as the full-time designated hitter and Haniger hoping to play in a 130-plus games, Servais knows there will be many times when he can’t play both Canzone and Raley.

“I think you’re looking at particular matchups,” Servais said. “Raley’s got a little bit more experience in the league, so he’ll have a little bit more track record. So there might be some just personal matchups that favor him. Maybe something jumps out. He’s faced a guy seven or eight times and he’s done OK against him. I may weigh that into playing that night. But it will be matchup driven.”

Servais has said he plans to play the hot hitters if possible. He hasn’t deviated from that mindset.

“If one guy gets off strong and he’s going pretty good, he’s going to get regular playing time,” he said. “That’s just the way it works. Dom’s had an awesome spring. He’s clearly made some adjustments to his game. He’s much stronger. He’s getting really good results. He’s checking a lot of the boxes.

“It’s been a little bit slower for Luke to get going. I do like what I’ve seen here in recent games. I think he’ll start to relax a little bit more. He does bring the versatility of being able to go into first base. There’s going to be plenty of opportunity for both of them.”