Cal Raleigh hits 2 HRs to pass Mantle, tie Griffey’s record

Cal Raleigh didn’t waste any time taking another home run record for himself. And then he really didn’t waste time tying the Seattle Mariners’ single-season homer record held by Ken Griffey Jr.

The numbers behind Seattle Mariners’ red-hot September surge

The superstar catcher swatted his 55th home run of the year to push the Mariners’ lead against the Kansas City Royals to 4-0 in the third inning Tuesday, moving him past Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for the most home runs ever by a switch-hitter in a single MLB season.

Then an inning later, he switched from the left side to the right side and blasted his 56th homer, tying the M’s record Griffey set in both 1997 and 1998, to make it 9-0 Mariners against the Royals. The M’s went on to win 12-5 for their 10th straight victory.

Raleigh’s first blast Tuesday was a mammoth shot that traveled 419 feet with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph over the fence in right field.

Cal Raleigh's dream season continues!

No. 55 is a NO-DOUBTER 😤 pic.twitter.com/rvpvbplsXv

— MLB (@MLB) September 17, 2025

The second went even farther, 425 feet to center field with an exit velocity of 106.1 mph.

THE YEAR OF CAL RALEIGH NEVER STOPS

56 HR this season and TWO tonight! pic.twitter.com/tOfHFmV1r2

— MLB (@MLB) September 17, 2025

Raleigh now has 35 home runs as a left-handed hitter and 21 as a right-handed hitter in 2025. His left-handed total alone bests his previous career-high in homers, which was 34 in 2024.

Mantle’s record of 54 home runs had stood since 1961, the year he and New York Yankees teammate Roger Maris both chased Babe Ruth’s then-record of 60 homers, which Maris broke with 61.

Raleigh now has 11 games left to potentially make a run at 60 homers – or more – this year.

Raleigh tied Mantle with his 54th home run in the first inning of a Mariners win Sunday over the Los Angeles Angels. He has now homered in two straight games.

The first homer Tuesday came moments after Raleigh shook off taking a pitch that bounced in the dirt and off of his throat while catching in the bottom of the second inning in Kansas City.

Griffey hit 56 homers in both his American League MVP season of 1997 and then again in 1998. “The Big Dumper” has already joined “Junior” this year as the only Mariners to hit 50 homers in a season, as well as the only Mariners to win the Home Run Derby during the MLB All-Star break.

With his 56 homers, Raleigh now is tied with Griffey and the Chicago Cubs’ Hack Wilson (1930) for 19th on the all-time list for most home runs in a season.

Raleigh already broke the record for most home runs by a catcher in a single season, which was previously held by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez, who had 48 in 2021. That means he’s the first catcher ever to join the 50-homer club.

He also broke the record for most home runs in a season as a catcher – so disregarding games in which he was the designated hitter – with his homer against the Angels. That was his 43rd of the year in a game in which he caught, breaking the record of 42 set by Atlanta’s Javy Lopez in 2003.

Among active players, only a pair of Yankees, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, have hit more homers in a season than Raleigh. Judge hit 58 homers in 2024 and an American League record 62 in 2022, while Stanton hit 59 in 2017. With his 55th homer, Raleigh moved out of a tie with Atlanta’s Matt Olson (2023) and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (2024) for the fourth-most in a season by an active player.

Despite Raleigh’s record-setting season, it’s no guarantee that he will finish with the MLB lead this year. Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is up to 53 this year after hitting 16 homers since the start of August. Raleigh has a commanding lead over Judge (48 homers) for the AL lead, though.

The Mariners entered Tuesday with a half-game lead over the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.

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