Cal Raleigh Explained

Cal Raleigh
Team:Seattle Mariners
Number:29
Position:Catcher
Birth Date:26 November 1996
Birth Place:Cullowhee, North Carolina, U.S.
Bats:Switch
Throws:Right
Debutleague:MLB
Debutdate:July 11
Debutyear:2021
Debutteam:Seattle Mariners
Statleague:MLB
Statyear:August 19, 2024
Stat1label:Batting average
Stat1value:.215
Stat2label:Home runs
Stat2value:86
Stat3label:Runs batted in
Stat3value:229
Teams:

Caleb John Raleigh (born November 26, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. His nickname is Big Dumper.[1]

Amateur career

Raleigh attended Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, North Carolina. He enrolled at Florida State University (FSU) and played college baseball for the Florida State Seminoles.[2] [3] In 2016, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[4] In 2018, his junior year at FSU, he slashed .326/.447/.583 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs over 62 games.[5] After the season, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[6]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Raleigh made his professional debut with the Low-A Everett AquaSox, batting .288 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 38 games. He started 2019 with the High-A Modesto Nuts, with whom he was named a California League All-Star,[7] before being promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers.[8] Over 121 games between the two clubs, Raleigh slashed .251/.323/.497 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Raleigh did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, and hit .324/.377/.608 with 9 home runs and 36 RBI in 44 games.[10]

Seattle Mariners

On July 11, 2021, Raleigh was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[11] He made his MLB debut on July 11, starting at catcher in a game against the Los Angeles Angels, going 0–4 with two strikeouts. Raleigh recorded his first career hits and RBIs on July 20 in a win against the Colorado Rockies. On July 23, Raleigh hit his first career home run, a two-run shot off Oakland Athletics starter Frankie Montas.[12] He finished the 2021 season with a .180/.223/.309 slash line, 25 hits, 12 doubles, 2 home runs, 13 RBIs and 52 strikeouts, all in 47 games.

Raleigh began the 2022 season on the major league roster but remained with Tacoma. He then returned to the Mariners on May 7 to replace injured catcher Tom Murphy and became a major offensive talent to help the team to seven wins in ten games by June.[13] [14] On September 30, Raleigh hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics to clinch the Mariners' first playoff trip since their 2001 season, ending the longest active playoff drought amongst the four major North American sports leagues.[15] Raleigh had 27 home runs by the end of the season, leading all catchers in MLB and setting a new Mariners record for most home runs in a season by a catcher.[16] [17] He would also have a huge role in the Mariners postseason. In the Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Raleigh hit a two-run home run off of Alek Manoah, an RBI hit off of Anthony Bass, and scored the winning run in game two. He finished the 2022 season with a .211/.284/.489 slash line, 78 hits, 20 doubles, a triple, 27 home runs, and 63 runs batted in across his 119 games. He was a nominee for the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger at the catcher position, but he lost out to Jose Trevino of the New York Yankees and Alejandro Kirk of the Toronto Blue Jays, respectively.

On May 15, 2023, during a 10–1 victory against the Boston Red Sox, Raleigh became the first catcher in the 112-year history of Fenway Park to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, doing so in back-to-back plate appearances.[18] In 145 games for Seattle in 2023, he batted .232/.306/.456 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI.

On June 10, 2024, Raleigh hit a walk–off grand slam against Jordan Leasure as part of a 8–4 comeback victory against the Chicago White Sox.[19]

Notes and References

  1. News: Stone . Larry . September 30, 2022 . As if these Mariners could clinch a playoff berth with anything other than dramatics . . October 1, 2022.
  2. Web site: Florida State's Cal Raleigh chasing improvement not pitches . Tallahassee.com . December 13, 2020.
  3. Web site: Ex-Smoky Mountain star Cal Raleigh is a hot MLB draft prospect . Citizen-times.com . December 13, 2020.
  4. Web site: #31 Cal Raleigh – Profile . pointstreak.com . May 6, 2020.
  5. Web site: Meet the Seattle Mariners' 2018 draft selections . Kitsapsun.com . June 5, 2018 . December 13, 2020.
  6. Web site: Smoky Mountain's Cal Raleigh drafted by the Mariners . Citizen-times.com . December 13, 2020.
  7. Web site: Jenkins . Erin . Raleigh suits up for all-star game | Smoky Mountain . thesylvaherald.com . June 26, 2019 . December 13, 2020.
  8. Web site: Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto on Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh's promotion to Class AA: 'We're pumped' . July 15, 2019 . The Seattle Times . December 13, 2020.
  9. Web site: 2020 Minor League Season Canceled. mlbtraderumors.com. en.
  10. Web site: With Tacoma Rainiers, Mariners prospects Jarred Kelenic, Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert are so close, yet so far | The Spokesman-Review. www.spokesman.com.
  11. News: July 11, 2021. Crabtree-Hannigan. James. Reports: Smoky Mountain alum Cal Raleigh called up by Mariners. July 11, 2021. Asheville Citizen Times. en-US.
  12. Web site: Mariners' Cal Raleigh: Swats first major-league homer.
  13. News: Hanson . Scott . June 7, 2022 . It might not be a coincidence that the Mariners and catcher Cal Raleigh are surging at the same time . The Seattle Times . October 8, 2022.
  14. News: Fernandez . Roshan . July 15, 2022 . How Cal Raleigh returned from a stint in the minors to find his offensive groove . The Seattle Times . October 8, 2022.
  15. Web site: Raleigh's walk-off homer ends Mariners' long playoff drought . USA Today . . October 1, 2022.
  16. News: Gustafson . Brandon . October 1, 2022 . Cal Raleigh's walkoff highlights how important he's become to Mariners . Seattle Sports 710AM . October 8, 2022.
  17. Web site: Cal Raleigh Stats . Baseball-Reference.com . October 18, 2022.
  18. Web site: Kramer . Daniel . Raleigh makes Fenway history, one-ups childhood hero . May 16, 2023.
  19. Web site: From Raley to Raleigh, Mariners' grand rally one for the ages. July 15, 2024. mlb.com. en.