The Mariners Catcher is having an MVP-caliber year as Seattle looks to make a second-half Surge
By Ryan K Boman | July 13, 2025
Somewhere on a steamy Seattle summer day, the best catcher in the game prepares to catch about nine innings and hit a home run. Maybe even two.
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, a five-year veteran, is set to make his first All-Star start, and has been racking up monstrous numbers in the first half of the season. At the same time, he’s gaining a level of respect from fans, media, and his contemporaries that is often hard to come by.
Beyond that, he’s also considered a potential American League MVP candidate. That is, provided he can somehow leapfrog the’ two-time (and reigning) Most Valuable Player, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge. That might be a tough mountain to conquer, and to be honest? Before 2025, Raleigh even being mentioned in the same breath as Judge would have been almost laughable.
Still, Raleigh’s putting up one of the best seasons ever for a catcher. And no one will ever chide this heavy hitter, just because he dons the ‘tools of ignorance’.
Currently, the 28-year-old backstop is leading the league in homers (36) and RBI (82). Add in the fact that he can hit from both sides of the plate and won both the Gold and Platinum Gloves last year, and he’s suddenly an even greater weapon in that Seattle Mariners’ lineup. Quite frankly, he’s the best player at his position this season, in either league. No other catcher even comes close.
The Switch-Hitting Catcher has taken the League By Storm
Teaming with one of the best young players in the game, outfielder Julio Rodriguez, Raleigh has provided the punch for a playoff push down the stretch. The multi-talented, 24-year-old star looks like he might achieve the second 30-30 season of his young career, but it’s been the venerable catcher who has stepped forward in 2025.
While the Mariners are still Rodriguez’s team, he acknowledges Raleigh’s amazing success this season and what it’s meant for the club.
“It’s unbelievable what we’re watching,” Rodriguez said recently. “I feel like that’s something that we have never seen before. Coming from a catcher too — what he’s doing is so special. I’m very happy for him. It feels really good to see him succeed.”
“The way that he can impact the game, truly on both sides of the game, I just don’t think anybody is doing that right now. I think he definitely deserves his first shot at the MVP.”
Raleigh could be the third AL MVP in Seattle Mariners history
The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest seasons in the history of the Seattle franchise, one that has a storied past.
Former MVPs like Ichiro Suzuki and Ken Griffey, Jr are considered two of the greatest players of all time. And when you look at the long list of MLB Hall of Famers, All-Stars, and record holders that once played in an M’s uniform, it has names like Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, and Edgar Martinez on there, as well.
If Cal Raleigh can somehow surpass the amazing Aaron Judge and capture the MVP Award, he will be the third Mariner in history to do so. Junior grabbed the prize in 1997, while Ichiro took the title in 2001.
Despite achieving a season of 116 wins and making multiple playoff appearances, the franchise still has yet to reach the World Series, let alone win one.
So if Cal Raleigh wraps up the Most Valuable Player Award and Seattle makes a run to October glory? 2025 stands a chance to be the greatest year in the club’s history… and definitely one you want to catch.
The Sidearmer 