Cal Raleigh's historic season: The rising offensive impact of MLB catchers
TOI World Desk | TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Aug 05, 2025, 23:47 IST
( Image credit : AP )
Highlight of the story: Cal Raleigh is having a great season. He is hitting many home runs. This is part of a trend. Catchers across Major League Baseball are hitting better. Raleigh's performance helps his team. Other catchers like Will Smith and Salvador Perez are also contributing. A new catching stance may be helping. Raleigh is important for his team's playoff chances.
Cal Raleigh, Seattle’s powerhouse catcher affectionately known as “Big Dumper,” is having a historic season that is redefining expectations for the sport’s most demanding defensive position.
The 28-year-old Raleigh has launched 42 home runs this year — a staggering total for any player, let alone a catcher — and is on pace to challenge Aaron Judge’s American League record of 62. The offensive outburst has propelled the Mariners to a 60-53 record and kept them firmly in the AL playoff hunt.
Manager Dan Wilson, a former MLB catcher himself, praised Raleigh’s all-around impact.
“Night in, night out, blocking balls, calling the game, leading a pitching staff, throwing runners out — that’s what Cal does and he does it very well,” Wilson said.
Raleigh’s emergence as a two-way star comes in his fourth full season with Seattle, showcasing a rare blend of offensive power and defensive leadership. He won a Gold Glove Award in 2024 and continues to anchor a Mariners pitching staff while handling the daily grind of catching — squatting behind the plate, managing pitchers, and enduring foul tips — often four or five games a week.
His production places him in elite company. Only five other primary catchers in MLB history — Salvador Perez, Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley, and Mike Piazza — have hit 40 or more home runs in a season. Bench, Campanella, and Piazza are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
“I don’t think I’m trying any harder or doing any more than I have in the past,” Raleigh said. “Maybe a little more focused on the right things, and not constantly trying to tweak or change something that I have been in the past.”
Wilson called Raleigh’s performance “pretty staggering.”
Raleigh is part of a broader trend: MLB catchers are producing more at the plate than they have in years. According to league data, catchers have accounted for 12.2 percent of all home runs this season, up from 10 percent in 2018. Notable contributors include Will Smith, Hunter Goodman, Logan O’Hoppe, Shea Langeliers, Alejandro Kirk, Salvador Perez, and William Contreras.
Veteran Carson Kelly, enjoying a late-career resurgence with the Chicago Cubs while batting .272 with 13 home runs, credits experience and routine for the uptick in offense among catchers.
“It’s almost like you’re drinking from a firehose with how much information you have,” Kelly said. “As the years go on, you get smarter in your routines. You’re able to focus on the little details.”
Another factor behind the offensive improvement may be the widespread adoption of the one-knee catching stance, now used by most MLB backstops. Advocated primarily for its pitch-framing benefits, it also reduces physical strain — particularly on the knees — over the course of a long season.
“A hundred percent,” said Goodman, the Rockies’ primary catcher who is batting .279 with 20 home runs. “Being in a squat for that long can be hard on your legs. Getting on a knee gives your legs a little bit of rest for sure.”
As catchers adapt both physically and mentally to modern demands, players like Raleigh are proving they can not only manage a pitching staff but also serve as offensive cornerstones.
“It just seems like on both sides of the ball, when he’s behind the plate, he’s really focused on his pitchers and calling a good game,” Kelly said of Raleigh. “And then when he comes up to the plate, he can do damage.”
With nearly two months left in the regular season, Raleigh remains a central figure in Seattle’s postseason hopes — and in a potential rewrite of the record books for major league catchers.
The 28-year-old Raleigh has launched 42 home runs this year — a staggering total for any player, let alone a catcher — and is on pace to challenge Aaron Judge’s American League record of 62. The offensive outburst has propelled the Mariners to a 60-53 record and kept them firmly in the AL playoff hunt.
Manager Dan Wilson, a former MLB catcher himself, praised Raleigh’s all-around impact.
“Night in, night out, blocking balls, calling the game, leading a pitching staff, throwing runners out — that’s what Cal does and he does it very well,” Wilson said.
Raleigh’s emergence as a two-way star comes in his fourth full season with Seattle, showcasing a rare blend of offensive power and defensive leadership. He won a Gold Glove Award in 2024 and continues to anchor a Mariners pitching staff while handling the daily grind of catching — squatting behind the plate, managing pitchers, and enduring foul tips — often four or five games a week.
His production places him in elite company. Only five other primary catchers in MLB history — Salvador Perez, Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley, and Mike Piazza — have hit 40 or more home runs in a season. Bench, Campanella, and Piazza are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
“I don’t think I’m trying any harder or doing any more than I have in the past,” Raleigh said. “Maybe a little more focused on the right things, and not constantly trying to tweak or change something that I have been in the past.”
Wilson called Raleigh’s performance “pretty staggering.”
Raleigh is part of a broader trend: MLB catchers are producing more at the plate than they have in years. According to league data, catchers have accounted for 12.2 percent of all home runs this season, up from 10 percent in 2018. Notable contributors include Will Smith, Hunter Goodman, Logan O’Hoppe, Shea Langeliers, Alejandro Kirk, Salvador Perez, and William Contreras.
Veteran Carson Kelly, enjoying a late-career resurgence with the Chicago Cubs while batting .272 with 13 home runs, credits experience and routine for the uptick in offense among catchers.
“It’s almost like you’re drinking from a firehose with how much information you have,” Kelly said. “As the years go on, you get smarter in your routines. You’re able to focus on the little details.”
Another factor behind the offensive improvement may be the widespread adoption of the one-knee catching stance, now used by most MLB backstops. Advocated primarily for its pitch-framing benefits, it also reduces physical strain — particularly on the knees — over the course of a long season.
“A hundred percent,” said Goodman, the Rockies’ primary catcher who is batting .279 with 20 home runs. “Being in a squat for that long can be hard on your legs. Getting on a knee gives your legs a little bit of rest for sure.”
As catchers adapt both physically and mentally to modern demands, players like Raleigh are proving they can not only manage a pitching staff but also serve as offensive cornerstones.
“It just seems like on both sides of the ball, when he’s behind the plate, he’s really focused on his pitchers and calling a good game,” Kelly said of Raleigh. “And then when he comes up to the plate, he can do damage.”
With nearly two months left in the regular season, Raleigh remains a central figure in Seattle’s postseason hopes — and in a potential rewrite of the record books for major league catchers.