Watch: Mariners’ Cal Raleigh picks up rare stolen base
Jun 6, 2024, 2:29 PM | Updated: 4:12 pm
Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated by teammates after scoring against the A's on June 6. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal Raleigh certainly isn’t known for his speed, but the Seattle Mariners catcher is faster than his “Big Dumper” nickname might suggest.
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In one of the more surprising moments of the season, the 27-year-old Raleigh picked up his second career stolen base in Thursday afternoon’s 3-0 win in a series finale against the Oakland Athletics (recap story at this link).
Even more impressive? It came against a left-handed pitcher.
After reaching base on a hit by pitch, Raleigh took off on a 1-1 slider from JP Sears and slid safely into second base. The throw from backup catcher Kyle McCann was slightly off target, but it appeared Raleigh would have beaten the throw regardless.
Per MLB.com Mariners reporter Daniel Kramer, Raleigh showed off a top sprint speed of 27.1 feet per second after getting out to a primary lead-off of 11.5 feet and second lead of 25.5 feet.
Two batters later, Raleigh showed off his wheels again when he motored home from second on an RBI single to left field by Mitch Garver to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
Garv-sauce brings home Big Dumper! 🚛 pic.twitter.com/tIA10hLFTu
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 6, 2024
Raleigh is now a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen-base attempts over his four-year career. His only other steal came July 4, 2022, when he swiped third base against the San Diego Padres with right-hander Craig Stammen on the mound.
Even though the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Raleigh isn’t attempting many steals, that doesn’t mean he can’t move, as Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports mentioned.
Per Savant, on the current team Raleigh has the 6th best sprint speed. https://t.co/3ISoOSNoJ1
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) June 6, 2024
Raleigh’s sneaky speed was also something Seattle Sports’ Dave Wyman brought up during Wednesday’s Wyman and Bob in a conversation with MLB Network insider Jon Morosi. You can hear that around the 15:35 mark in the podcast at this link or in the player below.
The switch-hitting Raleigh is batting .205/.280/.405 with 11 home runs, five doubles and a .686 OPS in 57 games this season. He ranks third among MLB catchers with 11 homers and leads all catchers with 17 runners thrown out on stolen-base attempts.
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