As Cal Raleigh stepped to the plate this past weekend, chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” rang through his home ballpark.
Seattle Mariners fans might have a bit of a bias, but the switch-hitting catcher is building a stronger case by the day.
As the Mariners prepare for a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles beginning Tuesday, Raleigh entered the work week leading the major leagues with 23 home runs. That gave him one more than the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and two better than the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
Raleigh has home runs in three straight games and has six in six games. He is on pace for 64 this season, which would shatter the record for a primary catcher of 48 set by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez in 2021.
“He just continues to grow and mature in this game,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former catcher. “And the pace that he’s on right now with home runs — and he’s not just hitting home runs, he’s still just hitting the ball hard.
“You add that to what he does behind the plate in a game like this — whew, he’s a real special player and he’s doing it all right now.”
In the past week, Raleigh’s accomplishments have drawn comparisons to Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Mike Piazza and Buster Posey, some of the greatest offensive catchers in history.
“Those are some cool names, so pretty cool,” Raleigh said. “I say this a lot, but probably one day I’ll look back and be pretty thankful, and it’ll be a pretty cool thing to look at. But right now, just trying to keep my head down and keep going, and try to get some wins and put us in a good spot.”
Thanks in large part to Raleigh, the Mariners have been in first place in the American League West for all but one day since April 28. They clinched a series win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday with a 2-1 victory.
Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman was considered by most the top catcher in the American League entering the season. But while Rutschman is batting .203 with five home runs and 15 RBIs, Raleigh is hitting a career-high .264 with 45 RBIs.
The Orioles have struggled mightily and are in last place in the AL East with a minus-93 run differential that’s the third-worst in baseball.
Some help could be on the way with center fielder Colton Cowser reinstated from the injured list Monday after recovering from a fractured thumb. He has played just four games this season after hitting 24 home runs as a rookie last season.
There are other positive signs. Baltimore has won six of their past eight games, including a three-game weekend sweep of the visiting Chicago White Sox. The starting rotation has posted a 2.09 ERA over those past eight games.
“I feel like it’s been trending this way for a while,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “We’ve been in every game one way or another, within a few runs. So I feel like the starting pitching has been really good here going over a couple weeks now.”
Orioles right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 3.23 ERA) will try to keep that run going when he faces Seattle for the first time Tuesday.
The Mariners will counter with righty George Kirby (0-2, 11.42), who will be making his third start after beginning the season on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Kirby is 1-4 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts against the Orioles.
–Field Level Media
