Cal Raleigh
Caleb John Raleigh, nicknamed "Big Dumper", is an American professional baseball catcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. Raleigh is widely regarded as one of MLB's elite power hitters, all-around catchers, and switch hitters.
In 2024, Raleigh won an American League Gold Glove Award and the Platinum Glove Award, given to the best defensive player in the league. In 2025, he earned his first All-Star selection, became the first catcher and switch hitter to win the MLB Home Run Derby, and broke the record for the most home runs in a season by a catcher and a switch hitter. He also became the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in a season and won The Sporting News MLB Player of the Year Award, the Players Choice Awards for Player of the Year and AL Outstanding Player, the Baseball Digest Player of the Year Award.
Amateur career
Raleigh attended Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, then transferred to Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, North Carolina when his family moved. In his senior season, he hit.469 with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He was named an All-American by Louisville Slugger, MaxPreps, and Under Armour. He played in the Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field. He was named a conference player of the year in baseball and basketball.After originally committing to play for Clemson, Raleigh attended Florida State University, playing college baseball for the Seminoles. In 2016, he started all but one game and hit.301 with a.412 on-base percentage and was named a freshman All-American by Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Louisville Slugger, and Perfect Game. That summer, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, struggling to a.204 batting average.
Raleigh had several dramatic hits in 2017, including driving in the winning run in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, driving in the tying run in the Super Regional final against Sam Houston State, and hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of a College World Series game against the LSU Tigers. He hit only.227 in his sophomore season while dealing with a left thumb injury. In 2018, his final year at FSU, he slashed.326/.447/.583 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs in 62 games.
Professional career
Seattle Mariners
Minor leagues (2018–2021)
Raleigh was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round, with the 90th overall pick, of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. His struggles in his second year at Florida State lowered his draft stock. He signed with the Mariners, receiving an $854,000 signing bonus, $221,300 above the slot value for his pick. Raleigh made his professional debut that summer with the Low-A Everett AquaSox, batting.288 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 38 games. He started 2019 with the High-A Modesto Nuts, where he was named a California League All-Star. He first became teammates with future All-Star pitcher Logan Gilbert in Modesto. Both prospects were promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers in mid-July. In 121 games for the two clubs, Raleigh slashed.251/.323/.497 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs.Raleigh practiced and scrimmaged at the Mariners' alternate site in Tacoma in 2020 but did not play in a game because the Minor League Baseball season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Raleigh returned to Tacoma to start 2021 with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, hitting.324/.377/.608 with nine home runs in 44 games. He had a 23-game hitting streaking that lasted into June.
2021: MLB debut
On July 11, 2021, Raleigh was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day, starting at catcher against the Los Angeles Angels, striking out twice in four hitless at bats. Raleigh recorded his first career hits and RBIs with a two-RBI double and single against Germán Márquez of the Colorado Rockies on July 20. On July 23, Raleigh hit his first MLB home run, a two-run, 444-foot blast off Oakland Athletics starter Frankie Montas. Splitting time at catcher with Tom Murphy, Raleigh finished the 2021 season with a.180/.223/.309 slash line, two home runs, 13 RBI, and 52 strikeouts in 47 games.2022: drought-ending home run
Raleigh started 2022 continuing to struggle to make contact, with an.083 batting average and striking out in 32 percent of his plate appearances in his first nine games. He was optioned down to Tacoma on April 28, returning to the Mariners on May 7 after Murphy suffered a dislocated shoulder. After batting.091 in the next 10 games, Raleigh's bat blossomed, hitting.228 with an.854 on-base plus slugging and 24 home runs the rest of the season.On September 30, Raleigh hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run against Domingo Acevedo of the Athletics to clinch the Mariners' first postseason appearance since 2001, ending the longest active playoff drought amongst the four major North American sports leagues. Raleigh finished the regular season with a.211/.284/.489 slash line, 20 doubles, one triple, and 63 RBI in 119 games. His 27 home runs led MLB catchers and surpassed Mike Zunino for the most home runs by a Mariners catcher in a season. He was a finalist at catcher for the American League Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, losing to Jose Trevino of the New York Yankees and Alejandro Kirk of the Toronto Blue Jays, respectively.
Raleigh also had big hits to start the postseason. In the Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Raleigh hit a two-run home run off of Alek Manoah in Game 1. In the second game, he hit an RBI single off of Anthony Bass, then scored the winning run. However, his offense disappeared in the AL Division Series, as he went 1-for-14 in three consecutive losses to the Houston Astros.
2023
On May 15, 2023, Raleigh became the first catcher to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game at Fenway Park, hitting his home runs in consecutive plate appearances. In 145 games for Seattle in 2023, he batted.232/.306/.456 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI. When the Mariners were eliminated from postseason contention, Raleigh criticized the Mariners' lack of spending, saying, "Sometimes, you have to go out and you have to buy. That's just the name of the game." He was a Silver Slugger finalist again in 2023.2024: Platinum Glove
Raleigh broke a tooth after biting down on a sandwich on April 23, 2024. Despite severe pain, he hit a home run in that night's game against the Texas Rangers. He had oral surgery the following day, missing just one game before his return to catching. On June 10, Raleigh hit a walk-off grand slam off Jordan Leasure, capping off a 8–4 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox. Raleigh homered from both sides of the plate twice in July, on July 9 against the San Diego Padres, then two days later against the Angels. In the Mariners' final game of the season, Raleigh hit his 34th home run to reach 100 RBIs in a season for the first time in his career. It was his 93rd career home run, topping Mike Piazza for the most home runs in a catcher's first four MLB seasons. However, Raleigh hit 15 of his home runs as designated hitter or pinch hitter, while Piazza hit only one home run while not playing catcher in his first four seasons.Raleigh hit.220/.312/.436 with 34 home runs, 100 RBI, and a career-high six stolen bases and 176 strikeouts in 2024. He won the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove awards in 2024, becoming the first Mariner in franchise history to receive the latter honor. Raleigh particularly excelled as a pitch framer, playing a key role in elevating the Mariners' rotation to one of the most dominant and consistent in baseball. He was a Silver Slugger finalist for the third consecutive year.
2025: Home run records
On March 25, 2025, Raleigh and the Mariners agreed to a six-year, $105 million contract extension, with a seventh-year vesting player option worth $20 million, with a $2 million buyout.First half: June Player of the Month
On April 11, Raleigh became the Mariners' franchise home run leader among catchers, hitting his 96th career home run. On April 16, Raleigh recorded his 100th career home run. He became the fourth-fastest catcher to reach 100 home runs, trailing Gary Sánchez, Piazza, and Rudy York. He hit 10 home runs in April, tied for the major league lead with Aaron Judge and Eugenio Suárez. On May 30 against the Minnesota Twins, Raleigh hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, becoming the first MLB catcher to hit 20 home runs before the end of May. It was just the 29th time in MLB history and the fifth time a Mariners player has reached 20 home runs by the end of May, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. On June 2, Raleigh was named the AL Player of the Week, shared with Junior Caminero for May 26–June 1, a span in which he batted.348 with 6 home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.575 OPS. It was his first career Player of the Week Award.Raleigh became the first player in the season to reach 25 home runs on June 7 when he hit a three-run home run off Jack Kochanowicz of the Angels in the first inning. On June 17, Raleigh stole his eighth base, the most stolen bases in a single season by a catcher in franchise history. On June 20, Raleigh hit his 28th and 29th home runs against the Chicago Cubs. With his performance, Raleigh passed Johnny Bench's record, set in 1970, for the most home runs by a primary catcher before the All-Star break. On June 21, Raleigh became the first player to reach 30 home runs in the season and became the first catcher and switch hitter in MLB history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break. He was also the fastest player to reach 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzales in 2001. Griffey was the only other Mariner to hit 30 home runs before the break. On June 23, Raleigh was named the AL Player of the Week for June 16–22, during which he batted.417 with 10 runs, five home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.606 OPS.
At the end of June, Raleigh had 33 home runs, tied for the third-most home runs in major league history through June with Griffey and Sammy Sosa in 1998 and trailing only Barry Bonds with 39 in 2001 and Mark McGwire with 37 in 1998. Raleigh was named the AL Player of the Month in June, after slashing.300/.398/.690 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs on the month. It was Raleigh's first monthly award.
On July 4, Raleigh hit two home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates, setting a new single-season career high of 35 home runs. He matched Griffey's 1998 season for most home runs in franchise history before the All-Star break. Raleigh's first home run had a 114.7 mph exit velocity, the hardest-hit ball of his career. On July 8, Raleigh passed Griffey for the most home runs hit before the All-Star break in Mariners history with a home run against the Yankees. On July 11, in a game against the Detroit Tigers, Raleigh hit two home runs—his 37th and 38th of the season. The second was a grand slam and brought him within one home run of Bonds' MLB record of 39 home runs before the All-Star break. With those two home runs, Raleigh set the AL record for most home runs before the All-Star Break.