There’s no denying Cal Raleigh has been the heart and soul of the Seattle Mariners this season, even more so than before. His catching and overall defense has been up to its usual tremendous standard, but it’s what he’s been doing with his bat which has really caught the attention of fans, media and opposing teams alike around the majors.
Raleigh is well on course for the best offensive season of his Major League career, highlighted by currently leading the whole of baseball with 42 home runs and also being tied for third with 90 RBI. Yet he’s been in a deep funk of late which, even as it extends, doesn’t appear to be getting much attention.
The 28-year-old was lights out through the end of June and emerging as the main challenge to the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge for AL MVP honors, batting .276 and producing a stellar 1.036 OPS. Since then however, things have taken a downturn and he’s hitting just .177 and only recording a .687 OPS.
The genesis of Cal Raleigh’s funk
The funk started on July 1, when Raleigh went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a 6-3 home loss to the Kansas City Royals. What made this even more noteworthy was that prior to the game he went through his first simulated practice for the 2025 Home Run Derby with his dad, Todd, in preparation for the 2025 Home Run Derby at the All-Star festivities in Atlanta.
After announcing his intention to compete in the event, there were some concerns it could compromise Raleigh’s offensive impact moving forward. Intentionally or not, he alluded to this with his comments following that first simulated practice, as he said: “It was a little exhausting, I’m not going to lie. I learned that you’ve got to slow it down a little bit and maybe swing a little slower, don’t swing as hard. So I’m trying to go for more quality over quantity.”
The 2024 Platinum Glove Award winner would subsequently do Seattle proud by becoming the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby, but there’s little escaping the reality he just hasn’t been himself in recent weeks. While there was always going to be some inevitable regression after his explosive start to this season, we did previously write about how the Mariners were playing a potentially dangerous game with him.
At the time of that article, Raleigh had played in all 48 Mariners games (including 10 as DH), to put him on course to do something no catcher had ever done: play in all 162 contests. At that point, though, manager Dan Wilson was not in a position of luxury to be able to sit his clubhouse leader, due to the combination of injuries and too many players performing below expectations.
This situation has since been remedied to a large extent and Raleigh has finally been given some rest, although we’re only talking about three games out of a possible 115! (The guy truly hates missing games.) Irrespective, there’s a bizarre situation where he’s still getting fawning coverage despite his ongoing slump, including the Associated Press‘ David Brandt writing about his staggering season which is leading an offensive surge for catchers.
Reception is reality for Cal Raleigh and the Mariners
Of course no one connected with the Mariners is going to complain about the 2025 All-Star still receiving positive recognition, but what gives for a player who is batting just .177 with a .687 OPS since the beginning of July? Well, it probably helps that he’s still producing some explosive results when he is making contact with the ball, as evidenced by nine homers and 19 RBI.
More significant is that the Mariners have been winning consistently during Raleigh’s extended slump, going 18-13 in 31 games for a .581 winning percent — which would project to 94 wins over the course of the entire season. For some context, the M’s overall record of 62-53 represents a .539 percent winning percentage, which would total 87 victories for the whole campaign.
At least there are some positive signs, with Raleigh’s 0-for-5 night with three strikeouts in Tuesday’s home series opener versus the Chicago White Sox overshadowing that he narrowly missed a couple of home runs. On Wednesday night, he ended a four-game scoring drought by connecting on a two-RBI single.
It makes perfect sense why nobody seems to be panicking, but this won’t remain the case if Raleigh doesn’t get more of his former mojo back sooner than later. As good as the Mariners have been offensively overall with others doing their part, this is a much more dangerous lineup when their best player is contributing consistently.
