Through 30 games, the Seattle Mariners have been one of the best teams in baseball. At 18-12, they lead the American League West entering play on Thursday. The offense has been one of the top units in the sport, according to multiple metrics.
And a huge reason for all of that? The play of catcher Cal Raleigh. The "Big Dumper" has 10 homers, 17 RBIs and a .233 batting average through the first 30 games. Furthermore, he leads the pitching staff, which is one of the most talented groups in baseball when healthy.
Just like he did last year with his 34-homer, 100-RBI season, he's also re-writing the history books in various ways. On Thursday in a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels, it was with his legs.
Per Mariners PR after the game:
--Cal Raleigh collected an RBI single in the 7th inning, and recorded his 4th stolen base of the season, the 11th of his career, scoring a run in the 3rd inning.
--His 11 career stolen bases is one shy of tying Miguel Olivo for 2nd-most among catchers (min. 50% of games played at catcher) in franchise history...Mariners Manager Dan Wilson holds the franchise record with 23 SB.
--Raleigh (2024-25) and Dan Wilson (1997, 1999) are the only catchers in franchise history with multiple seasons of at least 4 stolen bases.
The 28-year-old signed a new six-year deal right before the season started and he's certainly making it look like the right decision in the early going. And if he keeps performing like this, he could be looking at his first All-Star Game selection later this summer.
The Mariners are off on Thursday but will start a new series with the Texas Rangers on Friday night in Arlington. Texas is 16-15.
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