Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh leads MLB with a head-turning 32 home runs. He had another bomb in store Friday morning.
Raleigh, affectionately nicknamed “Big Dumper,” broke the news on Instagram that he’ll be participating in this year’s Home Run Derby.
“It’s really cool,” Raleigh, a Cullowhee, North Carolina, native, said, via MLB.com. “Obviously, for all my family, it’ll be easy for them to get to. And friends have already been texting me and asking if I would do it. So now hopefully I can put their mind at ease a little bit.”
Raleigh is the second player to announce their Derby participation. The 28-year-old Mariners star joins Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who declared that he’s in for the event earlier this week. Acuña will be the hometown favorite, with All-Star festivities taking place in Atlanta’s Truist Park.
There are now six Derby spots remaining.
The 28-year-old, switch-hitting Raleigh is putting together a 2025 campaign that begs the question if he can become the first catcher to win AL MVP since Joe Mauer did it in 2009.
Raleigh is currently slashing .275/.380/.651 with his 32 homers as well as an MLB-leading 69 RBI, plus 15 doubles. The Florida State product already has his third straight 30-plus dinger season in the bag, but he’s on pace to shatter his single-season career high of 34 home runs, which he set last season.
He’s got more than just power. The 2024 Gold Glove Award winner is as reliable backstop. He leads MLB in innings caught since 2023. He’s started all but two of the Mariners’ first 80 games this season, and rather than taking full days off, he’ll often slide into the designated hitter role when he’s taking a breather from his behind-the-plate duties.
Raleigh signed a six-year, $105 million extension in March. He’s giving Seattle a bang for its buck.
Johnny Bench was the last catcher to lead MLB in home runs. He did so with 40 homers in 1972 for the Cincinnati Reds, and once before that, too, with 45 homers for the Reds in 1970.
Raleigh could join Bench in achieving that majors-leading feat this season. Along the way, he might become the first catcher to ever hit 50 homers.
If Raleigh switch hits in the derby, he’ll be the second player to do so. Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was the first to check that box in 2023.
Read the full article here