Mariners' Raleigh hits two HRs, breaking mark set by Dodgers legend

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at T-Mobile Park. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits two HRs, breaking mark set by Dodgers legend

By Aaron Somers | Last updated May 28, 2025 12:37 AM ET

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has already established himself as one of the game's premier backstops, but entered 2025 coming off his best season to date. Raleigh won the Platinum Glove Award as the American League's best defender while hitting a career-high 34 home runs and reaching the 100 RBI mark for the first time.

He's also incredibly well-liked within the Mariners clubhouse and with the fan base.

The production was worth 4.7 WAR and earned Raleigh some down-ballot MVP votes (he'd finish 12th in voting). More importantly, it resulted in a six-year, $105M extension (with a vesting player option for a seventh season) during spring training, which will allow him to remain with the Mariners long-term.

Since signing his new deal, Raleigh has only stepped things up at the plate offensively. His start to the 2025 season would put him on pace for one of the greatest offensive seasons by a catcher in MLB history.

Raleigh is also now making history while on his torrid pace. The 28-year-old went 2-for-5 on Tuesday against the Nationals, hitting a pair of solo home runs. That puts him at 19 homers on the season through 53 games.

Only one catcher in the history of the sport had ever hit 18 home runs through the first 53 games of the season, Roy Campanella, who achieved the feat 70 years ago with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The legendary Dodgers catcher would finish the 1955 season with 32 home runs while hitting .318/.395/.583 (152 OPS+) en route to winning his third MVP Award (though, statistically, it was actually the worst of his three award-winning seasons). Campanella would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Raleigh is on pace to hit more than 50 home runs this season. No catcher has ever reached that mark, with the Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez holding the current record with 48 in 2021. Perez, for comparison, had 14 through Kansas City's first 53 games that season.

Just as interesting, as MLB.com's Brent Maguire explains, Raleigh is on pace to finish the season at 9.7 WAR, just fractions behind Buster Posey's 9.8 WAR 2012 season (the highest total by a catcher in a single season).

Whether he passes Posey's WAR total or not, Raleigh is headed for some elite company if he can maintain his production through the season's final four months. Legends like Mike Piazza, Joe Mauer and Johnny Bench rank among the greatest single seasons in baseball history and soon Raleigh's name might be among them.

Aaron Somers

Aaron Somers has more than a decade of experience writing about sports and has been published in numerous outlets, but baseball is and has always been his biggest passion. You can follow him on BlueSky, @AaronJSomers.

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