Can Mariners' Cal Raleigh continue historic season in second half?

“He's a special player,” said two-time American League MVP Aaron Judge. “I said earlier, I've got to manage one swing. He's managing two swings being a switch-hitter. He's managing a pitching staff — one of the best pitching staffs in the [American League] — to do all that and continue to go out there and post every day, put up the numbers, hit the homers, it's fun to watch.”

The Seattle backstop is one of five players who've mashed at least 30 homers, alongside Judge (35), Ohtani (32), Arizona Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suárez (31) and Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (30).

Only 50 times in MLB history has a player eclipsed 50 homers, and the most combined players with at least that many in a season is four, done in 2001 (Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Luis Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez) and 1998 (Mark McGwire, Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn).

While Judge and Ohtani have surpassed the 50-homer mark before, it would be a new feat for Raleigh, who's on pace for 64 homers in 2025. He is also in prime position to shatter the single-season home run record by a catcher (48, by the Royals’ Salvador Perez in 2021), switch-hitter (54, by the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle in 1954) and the overall AL record (62, by Judge in 2022).

Despite inching closer to history and making his case for the AL MVP award, Raleigh said his focus is on the game, not accolades.

“It's all about just compartmentalizing and handling [extra attention] gracefully, and doing the right things,” Raleigh said. “But like I've said, making sure you turn your attention to the most important thing — which is the game.”