Cal Raleigh’s historic 2025 season has seen him reach the 50-home run mark, the most in a season by a primary catcher, and become the first player in MLB history to hit at least 20 homers from both sides of the plate in the same season.
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The Seattle Mariners catcher’s road to home run history began on the final day of March with his first dinger of the season and he’s continued the power surge ever since. Raleigh has hit blasts in consecutive games eight times and record nine multi-homer games this season.
Raleigh is threatening the American League record of 62 home runs set by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in 2022. “Big Dumper” also inching closer to Mickey Mantle’s record of 54 homers by a switch-hitter, which the Yankees legend achieved in 1961, and Ken Griffey Jr.’s Mariners record of 56 home runs, which “The Kid” reached twice in 1997 and 1998.
As Raleigh approaches more history during his MVP-worthy season, we are tracking his notable 2025 home runs all the way through Game 162.
MARCH
Home runs hit: 1
March 31: Raleigh opened his 2025 home run account during the Mariners’ fifth game of the season, a 9-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers. His 358-foot blast came six days after he signed a six-year, $105 million extension.
APRIL
Home runs hit: 9
April 11: The history making started early for Raleigh. During the Mariners’ 14th game he launched his third blast of the season off Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin and set the franchise record for career home runs by a catcher with his 96th.
MAY
Home runs hit: 12
May 2: Raleigh’s first grand slam of the season came in early May during a two-homer, five RBI night in a 13-1 rout of Jack Leiter and the Rangers.
May 27: Raleigh’s third multi-home run game of the season put his total up to 19 on the year and set an MLB record for most homers by a catcher in a team’s first 53 games of a season. Both dingers came against Washington Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker.
May 30: Raleigh became the first catcher in MLB history with 20 home runs before the end of May during another multi-blast night that saw him knock in five runs in a 12-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
JUNE
Home runs hit: 11
June 20: A prolific May continued into June for Raleigh where he reached double-digits in home runs again and set the MLB record for most homers by a catcher before the All-Star break with his 29th of the season at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.
June 21: Back at Wrigley a day later, Raleigh hit No. 30 to become the first switch-hitter in MLB history to do so before the All-Star break, moving ahead of of Mickey Mantle, José Ramírez and Lance Berkman. He also became the first player to reach 30 home runs in his team’s first 75 games since 2001, when Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez achieved that feat.
Cal Raleigh’s historic season with the Seattle Mariners has seen him win the Home Run Derby in Atlanta and become the first MLB player to reach 50 home runs in 2025. (Photo by Gene Wang – Capture At Media/Getty Images)
(Gene Wang – Capture At Media via Getty Images)
JULY
Home runs hit: 9
July 14: By the time the baseball world descended on Atlanta for the All-Star Game, Raleigh had 38 home runs. He brought his power down to Georgia where he would go on to become the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby, edging Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in the final. He is the second Mariner to win the event, joining Ken Griffey Jr., who won the event three times. Raleigh is also the first switch-hitter to win the Derby outright, as Rubén Sierra, the only other switch-hitter to win, shared the title in 1998.
July 26: Nearly two weeks after Raleigh’s Derby win, he hit No. 40 to become the seventh catcher in MLB history to post a 40-homer season, joining Salvador Perez, Johnny Bench, Javy López, Todd Hundley, Roy Campanella and Mike Piazza. It was also the 133rd blast of his career, putting him ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. for the most by a Mariner in his first five MLB seasons.
AUGUST
Home runs hit: 8 (and counting)
Aug. 15: Homer No. 46 was launched during a win over the New York Mets which also saw Raleigh reach 100 RBI on the season. That matched his career-high, set in 2024, and also made Raleigh the first catcher since Mike Piazza in 1999 and 2000 with 100 RBI in consecutive seasons while playing at least 50% of his games behind the plate.
Aug. 24: An 11-4 win over the Athletics was highlighted by yet another multi-homer game by Raleigh — one that saw him tie and then break the MLB record for most home runs hit in a single season by a catcher when he hit Nos. 48 and 49 to leapfrog Salvador Perez.
Aug. 25: Raleigh reached 50 home runs before any other MLB player this season with a first-inning bomb during a win over the San Diego Padres. He is also the only primary catcher to ever hit 50 blasts in a single season.
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