Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh runs after hitting a home run against the Oakland Athletics on Sept. 29 at T-Mobile Park. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Seattle Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh Earns Shocking Placement on MLB Top 10 List

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Teren Kowatsch | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 12:15 PM ET

The Seattle Mariners will enter a crucial 2025 spring training period with many more questions than answers.

One thing that isn't in question is who will be catching arguably the best starting rotation in baseball.

The Mariners and catcher Cal Raleigh settled on a $5.6 million deal through 2025 that avoided an arbitration hearing.

The former Florida State backstop is coming off a record-breaking season that saw him etch his name in MLB and Seattle record books. Because of that, it was shocking to see where MLB Network ranked him among the best catchers in baseball.

MLB Network had their annual "Top 10 Right Now" series where they go over the best players at every position in the major leagues. They went over catchers on Jan. 9, and Raleigh checked in as the No. 4 catcher in the league behind, in order: William Contreras (Milwaukee Brewers), Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Orioles) and Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers).

Cal Raleigh leads all catchers with 91 homers since the start of 2022.

After debuting at #8 last year, Big Dumper lands at #4 on this year's #Top10RightNow. pic.twitter.com/LJVXQjMJ9I
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 10, 2025

The list is put together by an analytical tool called "The Shredder" which takes into account surface and advanced analytics on offense and defense and past performances.

And it's somewhat shocking that Raleigh was outside of the top three based on that criteria.

Before it revealed Raleigh's placement on the list, MLB Network had a graphic that showed that that he leads all catchers in fWAR (FanGraphs WAR) at 13.9 since 2022.

MLB is posting these graphics on the screen and proceeding to tell us that Cal Raleigh is the 4th best catcher in baseball… pic.twitter.com/WBLy43gKFS
— EastCoastM’s (@EastCoastMs_) January 10, 2025

Raleigh hit .220 with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs in 2024. He set the Mariners franchise records for home runs and RBIs by a catcher in a single season and broke the MLB record for most homers by a catcher through their first four seasons (93).

Raleigh was also incredible on defense and earned Gold and Platinum Glove honors in the offseason.

Raleigh's placement on the list is shocking, but he'll likely have more than enough opportunities to prove the list wrong in 2025.

This article first appeared on Seattle Mariners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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