Cal Raleigh is the greatest story in baseball that’s not getting nearly enough attention because he plays in Seattle. The 28-year-old Mariners catcher is having a season dreams are made of, smashing records at every turn and cementing himself as one of the greatest power hitters in baseball.
Raleigh hit two more homers on Tuesday night to take his season to register a ludicrous 56 on the year. He leads all of MLB, and with only a handful of games left in the season it seems unlikely that either Kyle Schwarber or Shohei Ohtani will catch him down the stretch. Taking the 2025 home run crown is one thing, but those two home runs on Tuesday night meant so, so much more.
The first came in the top of the third inning to give Raleigh his 55th on the year. In doing so he passed Mickey Mantle for most home runs in a season by a switch hitter.
Once again for emphasis: Raleigh broke a record that has stood unopposed since 1961 on this home run. The last time a switch hitter came even remotely close to chasing Mantle’s mark was when Lance Berkman in 2006, followed by Chipper Jones in 1999. On both occasions they finished the season with 45 HR — 10 off the record.
If beating a 64-year-old record wasn’t enough for the Big Dumper, then in the top of the fourth he hit No. 56, which ties him with Ken Griffey Jr. for 1st among Mariners players for home runs in a season.
There’s a very good chance that by the time the dust settles Raleigh will hold the franchise single-season home run record. Heck, the way Raleigh is hitting it might not be outside the realm of possibility that he could finish with 60+ on the season. There are eight games left for Seattle, and while thinking too far ahead is hubris, with as hot as Raleigh’s bat is right now there is an off-chance he could pass Aaron Judge’s 2022 mark of 62 home runs, the most by a player outside the steroid era.
Even if that doesn’t happen there’s already a ridiculous list of records Cal Raleigh has already broken in 2025:
We are witnessing not just the best performance of the season, but one of the best batting performances in the history of baseball. Now we wait to see how many more records Raleigh can break in the final games of the regular season.
