Cal Raleigh should be the MVP favorite in the American League

Raleigh is rewriting the record books for catchers and switch hitters.

If you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, you’re likely only now becoming acquainted with the powerful stylings of Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

Tucked all the way up in Seattle, Raleigh is no-longer quietly on pace for one of the greatest offensive seasons we’ve ever seen from a catcher, and is making a strong case he should be the favorite in the American League Most Valuable Player race with Aaron Judge.

This weekend, Raleigh continued his assault on MLB pitching, smoking four home runs in three games at Wrigley Field. He added another in Minnesota on Monday and now has six in his last six games. He is truly a unicorn in the sport, a switch-hitting power hitter whose primary position is catcher. He’s already passed Johnny Bench for most dingers by a catcher before the All Star break and, with 32 on the season entering Monday, stands a good chance at breaking Barry Bonds’ all-time record for homers before the Break (39), needing eight more in the next 20 games to do it.

Bonds set that mark in 2001, the same year he set the all-time single-season home run record with 73. Raleigh is on pace for 66.

Raleigh’s 32 bombs are four more than Judge’s 28, and his 68 RBIs are also the most in the American League, six more than Judge’s 62. Judge does lead in most other categories, including OPS (1.202 to 1.049), fWAR (6.1 to 5.3) and wRC+ (227 to 193), and while those numbers supposedly take into account the position both players play, Raleigh is putting up his as his team’s primary catcher, the most physically grueling position to play everyday.

That should earn him some significant extra credit.

Raleigh’s 193 wRC+ would be tied for the best of any catcher in MLB history, along with Roy Campanella in 1945. Mike Piazza’s 183 wRC+ in 1997 would be third. No catcher has ever hit 50 HRs, with Salvador Perez’ 48 in 2021 the all-time record, but he did much of that as DH. Only Bench (45 in 1970 and 40 in ‘72), Javy Lopez (43 in ‘03), Campanella (41 in ‘53), Todd Hundley!!! (41 in ‘96) and Piazza (40 in ‘97 and ‘99) have hit at least 40.

Raleigh is just nine away from that number less than halfway through this season.

He’s also posted a 5.3 fWAR thus far, putting him on pace for a 10.8 WAR season. The all-time record for a catcher’s WAR is Buster Posey’s 9.8 in 2012.

Raleigh is no new kid on the block, either. Since becoming the Mariners’ regular catcher in 2022, he’s slugged 122 bombs, 6th-most of any player in baseball. Only Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Matt Olson have hit more. And while he does get the occasional day off behind the dish to play DH, he’s made 57 starts at catcher, with 17 as the DH.

He hits much better when he’s catching, by the way, with a 1.156 OPS in his 57 starts behind the plate and a .659 OPS when he’s the DH. He’s also a Gold Glove winning catcher, and one of the favorites to win it again, although defensive metrics say his defense has slipped a bit this season.

Bear in mind, he’s a power-hitting switch-hitter. We don’t see these much anymore. He’s slugged 21 homers from the left side and 10 from the right. He scored eight runs this weekend in Chicago, tying an MLB record for most runs scored in a three-game series by a catcher.

Raleigh has improved in every offensive category this season. His batting average his first three seasons was .211, .232 and .220. It’s .278 this season. His walk rate has increased every season, from 9.2% in 2022 to 13.5% this year. His strikeout-rate is a career-low 24.9%. His on-base percentage is a career-high .383.

He’s pulling the ball more than he ever has before, tapping into his power better than ever before, with a 55% pull-rate that is far higher than last year’s 48.9%. He’s also hitting more fly balls, 55% this season, compared to 51.9% a season ago. That’s called leaning in to your strengths, kids.

It’s more than likely Raleigh’s pace will slow. It’s getting hotter and more humid, and one can assume it would affect his offensive production the more he’s behind the plate this summer. Aaron Judge’s recent offensive funk likely won’t last long, and by the end of the season, he’ll probably have the superior offensive numbers in most categories.

But sometimes a player is doing something at his position that goes beyond the numbers. If Cal Raleigh keeps this up and has the greatest season any catcher has ever had, he should be the AL MVP.