Hype Train: Is Cal Raleigh the 1st-half AL MVP?

Cal Raleigh is in the midst of a historic season.

The Seattle Mariners’ slugging catcher is on pace to break MLB home run records for catchers and switch-hitters, and he’s even on track to break Aaron Judge’s AL home run record.

Cal Raleigh advances in All-Star voting – here’s what’s next

The standout campaign has started to catch the attention of the nation, and it’s sparked some debate about whether or not Raleigh should win the AL MVP award over Judge, who is having an incredible season himself.

The end of the season is still months away, so Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy evaluated what Raleigh and Judge have done thus far during their Hype Train segment Thursday afternoon. Co-hosts Michael Bumpus and Stacy Rost and producer Curtis Rogers shared their takes on if Raleigh is the first-half MVP.

Below is what each had to say.

Bumpus: “What about Aaron Judge? Home runs, Cal’s got him 32 to 28. Now (Judge’s) average is better, we understand that. Good for you there, Aaron Judge. Just talk about RBIs. Guess what? Cal’s got him 69-63. Strikeouts, guess what? Cal has less than Aaron Judge. … Also, where does Cal play baseball? In the worst ballpark known to man when it comes to hitting (home runs) out there. Where does Aaron Judge play? At Disneyland New York. So it’s Cal all day.”

Rogers: “He’s catching every single day, too. He’s squatting down, receiving every single pitch that this team is throwing, basically. In fact, Aaron Judge has DH’d more days than Cal Raleigh this season, so take that into consideration, too. Cal Raleigh is the first-half MVP.”

Rost: “I don’t want to repeat too many of the points you guys made. I’ll focus a little bit on Curtis’ about the DH time. I think the one case people make not only against catchers in general, but why catchers don’t put up these numbers, is they just don’t play as much as your everyday right fielder. That’s not the case for Cal Raleigh. He has appeared in all but one game for the Mariners, and that includes another scheduled off day he had where he still pinch-hit – and by the way, drove in two runners. So, yeah, he’s gonna be my first-half MVP.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stay weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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