Mariners match league high with 4 All-MLB selections

Four Seattle Mariners players were selected to the All-MLB teams, which were announced on Thursday evening.

Switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh and center fielder Julio Rodríguez were All-MLB First Team selections, while starting pitcher Bryan Woo and closer Andrés Muñoz received Second Team honors.

Mariners’ Cal Raleigh finishes 2nd in razor-tight AL MVP voting

The Mariners’ four All-MLB selections were tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the most in the majors. The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees each had three selections.

The All-MLB teams, which began in 2019, consist of 32 total players split into a First Team and a Second Team. Each team includes one catcher, one first baseman, one second baseman, one shortstop, one third baseman, one designated hitter, three outfielders, five starting pitchers and two relievers.

Fans account for 50% of the voting and a panel of experts comprise the other 50%. Voters were asked to only consider regular-season performance.

Raleigh, named the American League MVP runner-up earlier in the evening, blasted an MLB-leading 60 home runs in what was arguably the best season by a catcher in major league history.

Raleigh became just the seventh player in MLB history to reach the 60-homer mark and fell just two homers shy of the AL record. He broke the Mariners’ single-season home run record, the MLB single-season record for most homers by a switch-hitter and the MLB single-season record for most homers by a catcher.

Raleigh also had an AL-leading 125 RBIs, along with a slash line of .247/.359/.589 and a .948 OPS. He finished third in the majors in slugging percentage, fourth in OPS, third in fWAR (9.1) and fifth in bWAR (7.4). And he did it all while catching 121 games and logging 1,072 innings behind the plate, the latter of which was third-most in the majors.

Rodríguez, meanwhile, rode another scorching second half to a slash line of .267/.324/.474 with 32 homers, 30 steals and a .798 OPS. The three-time All-Star was one of just seven players in the majors with 30-plus homers and 30-plus steals. He finished eighth in the majors in bWAR (6.8), including fifth among position players.

Woo was the top starting pitcher in Seattle’s talented rotation. The 25-year-old right-hander posted a 2.94 ERA in 186 2/3 innings, with 198 strikeouts and just 36 walks. He finished third in the majors with a 0.93 WHIP and tied for seventh with a .200 opponents’ batting average. He opened the year with 25 consecutive starts of six-plus innings and two or fewer walks, which was the second-longest such streak to begin a season in MLB history.

Muñoz recorded 38 saves while posting a 1.73 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 28 walks in 62 1/3 innings. The hard-throwing right-hander logged a 1.03 WHIP and a .167 opponents’ batting average. Among MLB relievers, he ranked third in saves, fourth in ERA and seventh in opponents’ batting average.

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