The Chicago Cubs will need to try some new methods against Cal Raleigh when they host the Seattle Mariners in the middle contest of their three-game set on Saturday afternoon.
Nothing worked against the Seattle catcher in the series opener on Friday, when he hit his MLB-leading 28th and 29th home runs of the season. He also singled, walked, stole a base and scored four times in a 9-4 victory.
Raleigh sent a fastball over the fence in center for a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
In the seventh, he broke a 4-4 tie by hitting another fastball into the seats in left for a two-run homer. Raleigh passed Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, which still is three weeks away.
“He’s locked in,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Staying on time for the heater is a must. If you’re on time for the heater, you can give yourself a chance with the other stuff. I think he’s just so dangerous because he’s tough to pitch to. He hits breaking balls, he hits the hard stuff. He hits just about everything, and he’s got power to all fields. He’s just a really difficult out.”
Raleigh, 28, got a chance to meet Bench at the Rawlings Gold Glove banquet last offseason and cherished the opportunity.
“What an amazing baseball mind,” Raleigh said after the win on Friday. “Got to spend two hours or so with him just talking baseball. It was like a dream come true. I was a little kid all over again. Really fun experience, and very grateful for that opportunity and I learned a lot.”
Raleigh said he has been consistent with his approach to hitting.
“Trying to stay through the middle, looking for a mistake to hit,” he said. “Sometimes pitchers will, sometimes they won’t. You tip the cap sometimes, and (Friday) I was able to jump on a few mistakes they made, and that’s what you’ve got to do. It’s a really tough league, really good pitchers out there.”
Right-hander Cade Horton will be tasked with cooling off Raleigh when he starts for the Cubs on Saturday. Horton (3-1, 3.47 ERA) will make the eighth appearance of his rookie season and his first versus Seattle.
He most recently threw 5 2/3 shutout innings in his team’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 10 innings on June 13. Horton was matched against last season’s National League Rookie of the Year, right-hander Paul Skenes, who threw five shutout innings.
“It’s fun. Iron sharpens iron,” Horton said. “Being able to compete against him was really fun and, hopefully, we’re doing it for a lot of years.”
Horton, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, has impressed teammates with his aggressiveness against hitters.
“He has a great mentality,” Chicago outfielder Ian Happ said. “I think he has a really good mound presence, and he’s got the right attitude for it. And the ability to throw strikes and the ability to fill up the zone is super important. It helps him get some length into games.”
The Mariners plan to start Emerson Hancock on Saturday.
Hancock (3-2, 4.48 ERA) is coming off an exceptional outing as well, allowing two hits and no runs over seven innings in a 6-0 win against the Cleveland Guardians last Sunday.
The right-hander made his only start against the Cubs on April 13, 2024, and took the loss after yielding two runs and four hits over six innings in a 4-1 defeat.
–Field Level Media
