Cal Raleigh has made all sorts of history already this season.
What’s coming next would take the cake, though.
The Seattle Mariners’ superstar catcher is up to 47 home runs after going deep on Sunday night against the New York Mets in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The MLB record for single-season home runs by a catcher is 48, set by the Royals’ Salvador Perez. Raleigh needs one to tie and two to break it, with more than a month left in the season.
It feels like a foregone conclusion at this point, but that won’t make the moment any less special.
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Raleigh has leveled up in every one of his MLB seasons, and this time around, he’s on a whole new playing field.
It’s also put him squarely into the American League MVP Award race.
The Yankees’ Aaron Judge has held the conceptual lead in that for most of the year, but two things have happened. First, Judge hurt his elbow and missed time. And now, back and just DH-ing, Judge is struggling a bit.
Raleigh was cold, but he has heated up again.
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If Raleigh sets the catcher home run record (and maybe the switch-hitter home run record as he chases Mickey Mantle), it’ll be tough not to give him serious consideration. He’s also tied for the MLB lead with 102 RBI.
Sure, RBI is an old-school stat. But if Raleigh leads in homers and RBI while playing great catcher defense, he certainly has a strong MVP case.
By the end of the year, the Wins Above Replacement stats may still favor Judge, whose on-base numbers are still well ahead of Raleigh.
But the Big Dumper may wind up as the feel-good choice. And in awards voting, that often counts for enough to make the whole difference.
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