When you take a look at the storylines this season, it’s hard not to be pumped by the absurd start to the year for the Seattle Mariners‘ catcher, Cal Raleigh. The backstop was one of the best among his peers in both 2023 and 2024. Raleigh’s OPS sat at .762 and .748 in those seasons. Defensively, he won the elusive Platinum Glove in 2024. He was an exceptional player on both sides. This year, however, he’s turned into an outright superstar.
Cal Raleigh’s 2025
Raleigh has been flat-out amazing. He’s one of the best offensive players in the game, playing at the least offensive-oriented position. As it stands, the catcher leads the entire MLB in both home runs (32) and RBIs (69). He’s also 100th percentile in batting run value this season. The biggest reason for the massive jump this season is his surge in power. He’s barrelling baseballs 20% of the time (up from 15.5% last year), and his expected slugging has increased by 117 points.
Raleigh has turned into one of the scariest hitters at the plate this season, and is one of three batters with an OPS over 1.000. Without a doubt, he’s been the best catcher in the league. But the bigger question we need to ask is whether or not he should be leading the American League MVP race.
American League MVP Race
Despite Cal Raleigh’s monster season, he is not the favorite to win MVP. In fact, he’s not even that close to Aaron Judge, who is the favorite to win the award. ESPN has Aaron Judge at -2000 odds to take home the award, with Raleigh second at a mere +650. They don’t think it’s close.
There’s no question why Aaron Judge is the favorite. He leads the entire MLB in average, on-base, and slugging, and is second only to Raleigh in both home runs and RBIs. In terms of value-based stats, Judge also has a leg up on the catcher with 6.1 fWAR compared to 5.4.
While Raleigh is without a doubt having an MVP-caliber season, Judge is going for history. Judge’s current OPS of 1.189 would be the highest in baseball since arguably the greatest hitter ever, Barry Bonds, produced a 1.422 OPS in 2004.
Is there a Chance Cal Raleigh Wins?
Not to discount Raleigh, but at this point, it’s hard to expect him to win the award. Judge is gunning for his third MVP, and he’s putting up the best numbers of his career. If Raleigh is able to pull off the upset, he will need help from the Bronx Bomber and to keep up his phenomenal season. The reality of the MVP race is that it’s just hard to expect Judge to slow down at a higher rate than Raleigh. I mean, the guy has a career OPS over 1.000. Video game numbers.
Still, if Cal Raleigh even somewhat sustains his level of play, his season cannot be forgotten. Right now, the catching record for home runs in a season is held by Salvador Perez, who had 48 dingers in 2021. All Cal needs is 17 homers over the next 84 games, and the record is his.
So, maybe Raleigh jumps Aaron Judge and miraculously wins the AL MVP. But even if he doesn’t, his season will likely be remembered for a long time. Raleigh has already put the league on notice this year. Next up is cementing his name in the record books.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Could Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh Upset Aaron Judge for AL MVP? appeared first on Heavy Sports.