Cal Raleigh catching on, showing marked improvement for Mariners
Three consecutive home runs fueled the Mariners’ 8-2 victory over the A’s on Tuesday in Oakland — a rare feat that the club hadn’t pulled off in nearly 18 years.
Dig a little deeper in the box score and you’ll see there was another notable — though maybe not as sexy — development from the game.
Cal Raleigh reached base four times. The Mariners catcher was hit by a pitch, walked twice and then had a double in the eighth inning.
Top 8th – Crew Chief reviews call that Cal Raleigh is safe at 2B; call stands, Replay Official could not definitively determine that the batter-runner failed to maintain contact with the base as the fielder was applying the tag, runner is safe. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/N8lh6eDHcP
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) June 22, 2022
Raleigh is hitting .185 this season, but there are reasons — tangible and anecdotal — to think he’s beginning to settle in as the club’s starting backstop.
Getting there hasn’t always been easy, and it certainly hasn’t always been fun, but the 25-year-old feels like he’s standing on firmer ground these days than he ever did during his rookie season a year ago.
“I’m just trying to do simple things. I’m not trying to overcomplicate things or do anything different. I’m just trying to get my foot down, hit the fastball, and it feels good,” Raleigh said. “But it’s a very humbling game. I’m not going to take anything for granted.”
Raleigh made the club’s Opening Day roster but was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on April 28 after beginning the season with two hits in his first 24 at-bats. He rejoined the Mariners on May 7 when catcher Tom Murphy landed on the 10-day injured list with a dislocated left shoulder.
Murphy was off to a great start, hitting .303 in 14 games. There’s no timeline for his return, which means the bulk of the catching duties fall squarely on Raleigh’s shoulders for the immediate future.
Since returning from Tacoma, Raleigh has appeared in 32 games (28 starts), hitting .211 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. The at-bats have, generally, gotten better. He’s hitting .245 in June with a .344 on-base percentage, compared to marks of .167 and .217, respectively, in May.
Over his past 27 games, Raleigh has an .826 OPS, and his 1.1 fWAR is the fourth highest among big-league catchers during that stretch. And just for fun, don’t forget this: Eight of his 22 hits this season have gone over the fence.
“I don’t think he’s trying to hit the ball hard. He doesn’t really care where it goes — in the air, on the ground, left-field pull side, whatever. Just hit the ball. He’s much more aggressive,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
“When he’s aggressive, he’s up there ready to hit from the first pitch instead of looking for a perfect pitch to hit before he commits to a swing. You’ve got to trust your eyes.”
Raleigh is better off from his experiences of a year ago, when he hit .180 after being promoted from Tacoma. It was, to be sure, a humbling experience.
“There was a lot of things going on at once — being a catcher, trying to catch up on everything and get in the loop, trying to hit,” Raleigh said. “I just think everything just kind of sped up on me. So this offseason, I worked on basic stuff — trying to fix some things with the swing, trying to be shorter and not so long.”
There’s a sense that many of the young players in the big leagues who missed a full development year in 2020 when there was no minor-league season — as was the case with Raleigh — are having a tougher time at this level. Raleigh isn’t one to make excuses.
His sole focus is on getting better. From the looks of it, that’s happening.
“Any time you’re having success, it feels good. Everyone wants to help the team,” he said. “When you do bad, you take it with a grain of salt and move on, because the next game, the next at-bat, is the most important one.”
And so is the other aspect of Raleigh’s job: handling the pitching staff. He has drawn rave reviews, even from his minor-league days, about his preparation and pitcher care. That has only gotten better in Seattle.
“It’s been really good,” Servais said. “He’s working well with our pitching staff. He’s making adjustments. He’s creative in his pitch calling. He’s doing all the things that you’re looking for a young catcher to do and is gaining a ton of confidence along the way. So, all arrows pointing upward.”
Pitcher Marco Gonzales has witnessed that growth firsthand.
“There’s some ounces of maturity that are coming through,” Gonzales said. “I really enjoy connecting with him. He loves the chess game. I don’t have the sexy stuff that everyone is talking about, so for us it’s (pitching) up, down, in and out. I think he’s brought some good things to the table.
“He’s a learner. I’m proud of the progress we’ve seen so far.”
(Photo: Lindsey Wasson / USA Today)
