Rost: Cal’s historic season has Mariners in rare national spotlight

Jun 25, 2025, 8:59 AM

Host, Bump & Stacy (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

A Mariners-Twins recap was on SportsCenter last night.

Passan shares unique factor that may help Cal Raleigh’s MVP case

I don’t think a Yankee fan would see the significance in that, but let me tell you, as a local who grew up witnessing a team largely ignored by national outlets (something you do to yourself when you miss the playoffs for 20 straight years) this was noticeable. So much so that I walked into my living room and stood in front of the TV to watch. I started writing up this article. And, scrolling through my favorite baseball podcasts later, I found segment after segment about – I can’t stress this enough – a Seattle Mariners catcher.

There’s a debate brewing right now that’s exciting and fun and fiery and highlights exactly what so many love about baseball: nestled in the corner of the country, playing for a team desperate for hope and success, is a 28-year-old chasing history.

That’s the Cal Raleigh effect, and it’s got all of baseball talking.

First came a conversation about whether Raleigh could smash records previously held by the league’s best catchers. He’d been leading all catchers in home runs for two consecutive seasons heading into 2025, so there was already power there, but the switch-hitter who mostly hits from the left side has taken a massive step forward in his production from the right. Those splits this year? A slash line of .259/.387/.632 with a 1.019 OPS and 21 home runs from the left, and .319/.374/.736 with a 1.110 OPS and 11 home runs from the right side.

“I think the biggest improvement Cal’s made from the right side of the plate is just reps,” Alex Mayer, part of the Mariners media relations team, told Bump and Stacy during Tuesday’s episode of The Dugout. “He always hammers that home, he says he gets a lot more ABs now, and has progressively (improved) year by year against left-handed pitching.”

Maybe it’s the improvements hitting from the right side, maybe it’s a batting stance, maybe it’s a torpedo bat; whatever it is, Raleigh is raking. Four days ago, Raleigh passed Johnny Bench’s record for the most home runs (28) by a catcher before the All-Star break. Then he hit four more.

Sitting now at 32 home runs on June 24, Raleigh has a chance to make a different kind of history. Only 19 players have recorded 32 or more home runs before the All-Star Break… and we’ve still got just under three weeks left to play. A casual two more bombs (34) ties him with Aaron Judge’s 2024 pace, five more ties him with Mark McGwire’s first half in 1998 (37), and with seven home runs – a very tall yet fun-to-entertain task – he’d tie Barry Bonds with 39.

And that kind of production is what’s driving the spiciest conversation in baseball this week: Is Raleigh really threatening Aaron Judge’s MVP campaign?

I know folks tend to worship the pinstripes, but listen… Judge is doing things we haven’t seen since Bonds. The two-time MVP has 28 home runs, a .367 average and 1.202 OPS (the last player to finish the season with an OPS over 1.200 was Barry Bonds in 2004).

Everything on Judge’s stat sheet tells us he’s the obvious frontrunner for the award. Vegas tells us the same; he’s still the overwhelming favorite.

But Raleigh sure is making this one interesting. And not for the reasons you’d expect. Were he a fellow outfielder, it would feel fair to cross-examine the two in the same way. He’s not, though. Raleigh’s doing this as a catcher, an incredibly demanding position, and you could argue he’s more important to a team that’s clinging to that production as their greatest hope for a postseason push. He’s a Platinum Glove Award winner who’s played in 76 of 77 games for the Mariners this year, with just 17 of those at DH compared to 18 at DH for Judge.

Raleigh would probably need to beat Judge’s home run total, or eventually outpace him altogether there, to have his best case to beat an otherwise historic season from his American League peer. But in what’s been a record-setting year for Raleigh, maybe there is another one left to shatter.