Cal Raleigh

Caleb John Raleigh
(The Big Dumper)

Bats Both, Throws Right
Height 6' 3", Weight 215 lb.
School Florida State University
High School Smoky Mountain High School
Debut July 11, 2021

Born November 26, 1996 in Harrisonburg, VA USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Cal Raleigh is the son of Todd Raleigh and the nephew of Matt Raleigh. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 3rd round of the 2018 amateur draft out of Florida State University.

He reached the majors on July 1, 2021 and played 47 games with Seattle that season, batting .180 with 2 homers and 13 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 48. He was much better in 2022, however, as he won the team's starting catching job. On September 30th, he had the hit that put the Mariners in the postseason for the first time in 21 years. Pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens with two out in the bottom of the 9th of a 1-1 game against the Oakland Athletics, he drove a pitch from Domingo Acevedo 400 feet into the stands for a walk-off homer. The blast gave the M's a 2-1 win, and combined with a loss by the Baltimore Orioles earlier that day, confirmed that they would be one of three wild card teams in the American League. He then hit a key two-run homer in the 1st inning of Game 1 of the Wild Card Series off Alek Manoah of the Toronto Blue Jays on October 7th, as the Mariners went on to a 4-0 win. He added 3 hits in Game 2 to help the Mariners complete a sweep, but was limited to a single hit in 14 at-bats in the Division Series against the Houston Astros.

On May 15, 2023, he did something that was unprecedented in the 112-year history of Fenway Park, becoming the first catcher to hit homers from both sides of the plate in one game, in a 10-1 win by the Mariners over the Boston Red Sox. This was especially remarkable given that a power-hitting switch-hitter, Jason Varitek, who Raleigh had grown up idolizing, was behind the dish for many years for Boston. He hit .232 in 145 games that season, with 30 homers and 75 RBIs - all personal bests - leading to an OPS+ of 112. The Mariners fell barely short pf a return to the postseason however. In 2024, he added another feat to his growing personal list when he ended a game on June 10th against the Chicago White Sox by hitting a grand slam off Jordan Leasure in the bottom of the 9th. The Mariners had come back from being 4-0 down after seven innings and had tied the game in the 8th on - of all things - a squeeze bunt by Luke Raley off closer Michael Kopech before placing their first three men on base in the 9th. Cal's big hit gave them an 8-4 win. It was his second career walk-off homer. He hit .220 with 34 homers and 100 RBIs in 153 games, as one of the best hitters on a Seattle team that struggled to push runs across the plate. He also won his first Gold Glove Award as the best-fielding catcher in the American League, and a few days later added the Platinum Glove, given to the best overall fielder in the league, to his trophy collection.

Just before the start of the 2025 season, the Mariners rewarded Cal for his excellent work the previous two years by signing him to a six-year contract extension worth $105 million. On April 11th, he hit the 96th homer of his career, making him the all-time leader in the category among Mariners catchers, passing Mike Zunino. It was not a random blast either, as the hit off Chris Martin broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th with the Texas Rangers, propelling Seattle to a 5-3 win. He reached the 100-homer mark before the end of the month and on May 2nd homered twice including a grand slam in a 13-1 win over the Texas Rangers to give him 12 on the season, which led the majors at that point. By hitting his 20th and 21st homers of the season on May 30th, he became the first catcher to hit 20 or more long balls before the end of May, and the season record of 48, set by Salvador Perez in 2021, was also within sight, although he would need to keep up that pace for a couple more months. On June 20th, he continued his assault on the record book by hitting his 28th and 29th homers of the season in a 9-4 win over the Chicago Cubs, passing the great Johnny Bench for most by a catcher before the All-Star Game. Bench had set the mark in 87 games in 1970 while Cal had passed him in just 73 games. He also tied the record for most homers by a switch-hitter before the Mid-Summer Classic, and would break that mark with his next long ball. It was already his 6th multiple-homer game that season, tying Mike Piazza for most exclusively by a catcher - in a full season. He did not have to wait long for homer #30 as it came on June 21st, also against the Cubs, breaking the tie among switch-hitters with Mickey Mantle, José Ramirez and Lance Berkman. He was voted by fans as the starting catcher for the American League at the 2025 All-Star Game - his first time heading to the Midsummer Classic. He not only unseated Aaron Judge for the major league home run lead in June, he also took him down from the Player of the Month throne - Judge had won the honor in both April and May. It was fully deserved, as Cal hit .300 with 11 homers and 27 RBIs. He had another two-homer game on July 4th in a 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. That gave him 35 on the year, giving him a new personal season best, one more than the previous year, and tying Ken Griffey Jr.'s franchise record for most homers before the All-Star break, and he set a new record with another homer on July 8th. On July 11th, a two-homer game pushed him to 38, erasing the previous AL record for most before the break, which had been set by Chris Davis in 2013. That put him one short of the MLB record of 39 held by Barry Bonds, with two more games to go. He was the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby competition held as part of the All-Star Game festivities, defeating Junior Caminero in the final round after getting out of the first round by a mere inch, after finishing tied with Brent Rooker; the tiebreaker was longest home run distance, and that inch was the difference with Rooker. On July 26th, with over two months left to go in the season, he hit his 40th homer, becoming the 7th catcher to do so - but the first to reach the mark before the end of July. On August 24th, he hit home runs #48 and 49 in an 11-4 win over The Athletics. With that he matched Salvador Perez's record of 48 homers in one season by a primary catcher, and set a new one (Javy Lopez still held the record for most homers hit as a catcher, as both Perez and Raleigh had spent time at DH during their record-setting seasons). He reached 50 homers in his next game, against the San Diego Padres on August 25th, to become the second player in Mariners history to do so, after Griffey. He was also the first switch-hitter to hit at least 20 homers from each side of the plate. His 54th homer on September 14th gave him sole possession of the record for most hit as a catcher, and tied him with Mickey Mantle for most in a season by a switch-hitter. In the game, Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 11-2 for their ninth straight win, which also gave them sole possession of first place in the division. On September 16th, another two-homer game, this one on a 12 - 5 win over the Kansas City Royals gave him 56 homers, setting a new record for switch-hitters and tying the Mariners franchise record set by Griffey. The two long balls came on consecutive swings in the 3rd and 4th innings, each one from a different side of the plate. He also homered in an 18th different ballpark, tying another mark, this one held by four other players, and completely eclipsed a three-homer performance by teammate Dominic Canzone. His 57th homer in a key 6-4 win over Houston on September 20th gave him sole possession of the franchise record. He became just the 7th player with a 60-homer season with another two-homer game - his 12th of the season - on September 24th; this one was a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies that clinched Seattle's first AL West division title since 2001.

Notable Achievements[edit]

AL All-Star (2025)
AL Gold Glove Winner (2024)
AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2025)
AL Home Runs Leader (2025)
AL RBIs Leader (2025)
20-Home Run Seasons: 4 (2022-2025)
30-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2023-2025)
40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)
50-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)
60-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)
100 RBI Seasons: 2 (2024 & 2025)
100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (2025)

Record Held[edit]

Home runs, switch hitter, season, 60, 2025
Home runs, catcher, season, 49, 2025

Related Sites[edit]

Search

Namespaces

Views

Cal Raleigh

Contents

Biographical Information[edit]

Notable Achievements[edit]

Record Held[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

Full Site Menu

FAQs, Tip & Tricks