By this point in the MLB season, it is no longer a coincidence when we talk about the power of Cal Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners’ star catcher. At 28 years of age and in his fifth Major League season, he is the absolute leader in home runs, won the All-Star Derby and is on his way to breaking one of the forbidden marks in the Majors after more than 100 years of history
On Tuesday, Raleigh hit his 39th home run of the current campaign to give Seattle a 1-0 victory over Milwaukee, thus snapping the Brewers’ 11-game winning streak. The catcher connected with a 96-mph fastball from right-hander Nick Mears and sent the ball flying 391 feet over the right field wall at T-Mobile Park
Raleigh started the game in doubt, because he was hitting .143 during the month of July, with only three hits in 51 at-bats that did not end in a home run. The slump could be exacerbated against a flamethrower like Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers’ starter, who has impressed since his major league debut with his powerful arsenal
The first showdown between the two was a 10-pitch battle that ended with victory for Misiorowski, who dominated Raleigh in a long fly ball to center field with a 101.9 mph fastball
“I feel like lately I’ve been a little late on fastballs. So obviously to start the game with Misiorowski throwing so hard, I had to get ready for the fastball. And I did a good job of seeing the ball well. And from there, it was just about trying over and over again and getting my hands back in a good position,” the Seattle catcher said after the game
I feel like I’ve been a little late to the straights lately
The formula worked for him in his third at-bat, when he hit the ball beyond the limits and put the Mariners ahead with a lead that would be definitive, largely due to the excellent combined work of pitchers Logan Gilbert, Matt Brash, Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier and Andres Munoz, who allowed only two hits and struck out 13 Milwaukee batters.
In this way, Cal Raleigh became the first catcher in history to catch 12 or more strikeouts behind the plate during a two-hit shutout or less, while also homering to decide the game 1-0, according to OptaSTATS.
His indomitable home run rate
Cal Raleigh is on track to become the first catcher in history to have a 50-home run season. So far, he has 39, leading all of Major League Baseball ahead of Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Eugenio Suarez, who have 36 and have not been able to keep up with him. At his current pace, projections indicate he could reach 63 homers
That might be an exaggerated figure, but the possibility of him surpassing the 50-barrier is clearer right now. The single-season home run record for a catcher is held by Venezuelan Salvador Perez, who hit 48 with the Kansas City Royals in 2021
In general, there are few catchers who have hit more than 40 home runs in a year. The list, in addition to Salvador Perez, includes Johnny Bench (45 in 1970 and 40 in 1972), Javy Lopez (43 in 2003), Roy Campanella (41 in 1953), Todd Hundley (41 in 1996) and Mike Piazza (40 in 1997 and 1999). Raleigh will join this select club sooner rather than later and could take the home run limits of the catching position much further
As if that were not enough, he has set other notable marks for switch hitters and for the Mariners franchise, putting himself on a par with legends of the game
- With his 39 home runs, Cal Raleigh tied Mickey Mantle for the most home runs by a switch hitter in the first 101 games of a season.
- Raleigh has 132 home runs in his first five seasons with Seattle, the same number as Ken Griffey Jr. in his first five years with the team. The difference is that Raleigh has needed 171 fewer games to achieve this mark.
- Raleigh has hit 132 home runs in 563 games, surpassing the 122 Alex Rodriguez hit in his first 563 games with Seattle
These numbers suggest that he could be a home run hitter for the ages, although we will have to continue to watch his development and see if he can keep up the pace in the future.
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