Cal Raleigh will participate in the 2025 Home Run Derby

Bring me the Beef Boy and free my soul.

After weeks of noting he’d gladly participate, Cal Raleigh is officially in to participate in the 2025 Home Run Derby over All-Star Weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. Raleigh informed the Seattle Times that he intends to have his father, Todd Raleigh, a longtime coach at Florida State University, pitch to him, while his younger brother Todd Jr. will hopefully catch, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. The experience will allow the three to play at on the MLB field nearest to where Raleigh grew up in Sylva, North Carolina.

Raleigh will be in town already to start the All-Star Game, as one of the top vote-getters in all of MLB for his already-record-setting season behind the dish. The Big Dumper has become a household name, having already established himself as the best catcher in baseball over the past few seasons, and now placing himself among the sport’s best players, period in 2025.

While catchers are not typically league-leaders in homers, there have been a handful of backstops to also take on the Derby. Carlton Fisk, Ozzie Virgil Jr., and Mickey Tettleton were participants in the 1980s, while Mike Piazza’s back-to-back homerless performances in 1993-94 brought upon a period of shame for the position. Javy López put up five big flies in 1998 at Coors Field, preceding another draught until 2005, where Iván Rodríguez took the stage in an internationally flavored Derby. Pudge was runner-up that year, and the last catcher to crack the field until Joe Mauer’s also-ran showing in 2009. It wouldn’t be until 2017 that a backstop returned, with Gary Sánchez outslugging Giancarlo Stanton in round one before falling in the second tier. 2021 saw Salvador Pérez crack a healthy sum of big flies but come up short against eventual winner Pete Alonso, while Adley Rutschman did much the same in Seattle in 2023.

Seattle has had plenty of success and representation despite the team’s overall offensive malaise in the past quarter century. The M’s have three team victories (albeit all in the 1990s, by Ken Griffey Jr.), tied for second-most by any club, along with Julio Rodríguez’s record for a single round in 2023 of 41 big flies. Raleigh will mark the 16th appearance of a Mariner in the Home Run Derby, following Julio (2x), Robinson Canó, Bret Boone (2x), Edgar Martinez, Griffey (7x w/Seattle), Alex Rodriguez, and Jay Buhner.

In a field that currently only officially contains Ronald Acuña Jr., Cal could become the first catcher to ever take home the title. Interestingly, the M’s typical 2-3-4 in the lineup now contains three Home Run Derby participants, with Julio and Randy Arozarena flanking their league-leading teammate.