ANALYSIS: What Seattle Mariners Player Was Most Impressive in First Half?

The Seattle Mariners are set to begin the second half of the season in the first of a three-game series against the Houston Astros at 7:10 p.m. PT on Friday at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners are in a favorable spot to kick off the second half. They're 51-45 on the season, hold the final American League Wild Card spot by 1.5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays and are five games behind the Astros in the AL West.

The season hasn't played out quite how Seattle expected. There's been several key injuries and many players have either exceeded or fallen short of expectations.

As to the one player that has been the biggest surprise of the season, that's obvious: catcher Cal Raleigh.

Raleigh already had the argument of being the best catcher in baseball going into this season. He won the Platinum Glove award for the AL, was a Sliver Slugger finalist and ended 2024 by setting the MLB record for the most home runs by a catcher through their first four seasons (93). He passed Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for that previous record.

Raleigh was expected to be one of the Mariners most valuable players going into this year, but he's somehow exceeded that and is one of the most valuable players in baseball, period.

And he's done that by having, no hyperbole, the greatest first half by a catcher in MLB history.

This season, Raleigh has scored 65 runs in 94 games and has hit 16 doubles and a major league-leading 38 home runs with 82 RBIs (also a major league high). He's slashed .259/.376/.634 with a 1.010 OPS. His 38 homers is the most by a catcher, switch-hitter and American League hitter before the All-Star Break in MLB history.