Why ‘Pitching Ninja’ is big fan of Mariners’ Cal Raleigh

Feb 26, 2025, 12:39 AM | Updated: 9:06 am

Seattle Sports

As the man behind the immensely popular “Pitching Ninja” social media account, Rob Friedman specializes in highlighting the nastiest pitches across MLB.

Naturally, that means the Seattle Mariners are a frequent recipient of his praise.

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The Mariners boast arguably the best starting rotation in the majors, with the quintet of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo giving the club a high-quality starter at all five spots. And with All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz and the expected return of high-leverage reliever Matt Brash, the M’s also have some big-time firepower in the bullpen.

But during an appearance Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, Friedman didn’t just gush about the Mariners’ elite collection of arms. He also raved about standout catcher Cal Raleigh, who is still somewhat of an unsung hero in the club’s pitching success.

“Thank you for giving him credit, because he is one of maybe three catchers in the league that I watch all the time because of how good he is with the staff,” Friedman said when asked about Raleigh. “He has a fantastic personality. He knows what makes every pitcher on the staff tick. He can get away with some things with some guys and push them, whereas other guys he has to encourage them.

“He knows their stuff (and) he calls the game based on what he doesn’t want to see as a hitter. He knows the pitches that he’d have trouble with, so he calls them more. He’s fantastic in the way he gets the most out of this staff.”

Not just a big bat

The 28-year-old Raleigh is coming off another big offensive season in 2024. The former third-round draft pick led all MLB catchers in home runs for a third consecutive year, blasting a career-high 34 homers. He is the first catcher to accomplish that feat since Mike Piazza did so from 1999 to 2002.

But Raleigh is just as good behind the plate.

Shortly after winning his first American League Gold Glove at catcher, he won the AL Platinum Glove Award for 2024 as the league’s best defensive player, regardless of position. He threw out an MLB-high 26 runners on stolen-base attempts, leading the majors in that category for a second straight season. He also tied for the AL lead with 16 defensive runs saved, caught an MLB-high 1,122 innings, led all AL catchers with a 5.4 FanGraphs WAR and was the backstop for a starting rotation that posted an MLB-best 3.38 ERA.

“He deserves a lot of the credit for how nasty this staff is,” Friedman said. “I just love watching that guy.”

Listen to the full conversation with “Pitching Ninja” at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.