Cal Raleigh’s noteworthy 2025 baseball year has featured him achieving the 50-home run mark, representing the highest number of homers in a season by a main catcher in MLB history. He has additionally become the first baseball player ever to record a minimum of 20 home runs from each batting stance within one season.
Raleigh distinctly holds both the MLB’s single-season high for a switch-hitter and the Seattle Mariners’ single-season team high, having accomplished both milestones in September.
The catcher’s journey is still progressing. Raleigh hit home run No. 58 on the date of Sunday against the Houston Astros, sending a two-run projectile into the far right field area.
Raleigh is now only four homers from the AL single-season high of 62 home runs, set by New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in 2022.
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Raleigh’s Path to Success
The Mariners catcher’s pathway to home run fame commenced on the concluding day of March, with his first dinger of the season, and he has maintained the powerful run ever since. Raleigh has hit projectiles in consecutive games eight times and recorded 10 multi-homer games this season.
Beyond aiming for Judge’s record, “Big Dumper” has already surpassed Mickey Mantle for the most homers by a switch hitter, and supplements on the Mariners’ team record as well.
As Raleigh closes in on further milestones in his MVP-caliber season, we are documenting his significant 2025 home runs throughout Game 162.
MARCH
Home runs hit: 1
March 31: Raleigh started his 2025 home run tally in the Mariners’ fifth game of the season, a 9-6 defeat to the Detroit Tigers. His 358-foot projectile occurred six days after he committed to a six-year, $105 million extension.
APRIL
Home runs hit: 9
April 11: The historic events started early for Raleigh. During the Mariners’ 14th game, he initiated his third projectile of the season off Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin and recorded the team high for career home runs by a catcher with his 96th.
MAY
Home runs hit: 12
May 2: Raleigh’s initial grand slam of the season occurred on a two-homer, five-RBI night in a 13-1 defeat of Jack Leiter and the Rangers.
May 27: Raleigh’s third multi-home-run game of the season elevated his total to 19 on the year and set an MLB record for home runs by a catcher in a team’s initial 53 games of a season. Both dingers occurred against Washington Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker.
May 30: Raleigh became the initial catcher in MLB history with 20 home runs prior to the end of May with another multi-projectile night that witnessed him knocking in five runs in a 12-6 defeat to the Minnesota Twins.
JUNE
Home runs hit: 11
June 20: A productive May extended into June for Raleigh, as he reached double-digit home runs again and set the MLB record for homers by a catcher prior to the All-Star break with his 29th of the season at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.
June 21: Still at Wrigley one day later, Raleigh hit No. 30 to become the initial switch-hitter in MLB history to accomplish this prior to the All-Star break, progressing ahead of Mickey Mantle, José Ramírez and Lance Berkman. He additionally became the initial player to hit 30 home runs in his team’s initial 75 games since 2001, when Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez attained that feat.
Cal Raleigh’s remarkable season with the Seattle Mariners has displayed him succeeding at the Home Run Derby and becoming the initial MLB player to reach 50 home runs. (Photo by Gene Wang, Capture At Media/Getty Images)
(Gene Wang – Capture At Media via Getty Images)
JULY
Home runs hit: 9
July 14: By the time the baseball realm congregated on Atlanta for the All-Star Game, Raleigh had 38 home runs. He conveyed his strength to Georgia, where he became the initial catcher to succeed at the Home Run Derby, edging Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in the final. Raleigh is the second Mariner to succeed at the event, uniting Griffey, who succeeded at the Derby three times. Raleigh is additionally the initial switch-hitter to succeed at the Derby outright, as Rubén Sierra, the only other switch-hitter to succeed, shared the title in 1998.
July 26: Almost two weeks following Raleigh’s Derby win, he hit No. 40 to become the seventh catcher in MLB history to post a 40-homer season, uniting Salvador Perez, Johnny Bench, Javy López, Todd Hundley, Roy Campanella and Mike Piazza. It was the 133rd projectile of Raleigh’s career, positioning him ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. for the most by a Mariner in his initial five MLB seasons.
AUGUST
Home runs hit: 8
Aug. 15: Homer No. 46 was initiated during a win over the New York Mets that additionally witnessed Raleigh reaching 100 RBI on the season. That matched his career high, set in 2024, and made Raleigh the initial catcher since Mike Piazza in 1999 and 2000 with 100 RBI in consecutive seasons while participating in at least 50% of his games behind the plate.
Aug. 24: An 11-4 win over the Athletics delivered yet another multi-homer game from Raleigh — one that witnessed him tying and then breaking the MLB record for home runs hit by a catcher in a single season when he hit Nos. 48 and 49 to leapfrog Salvador Perez.
Aug. 25: Raleigh reached 50 home runs prior to any other MLB player this season, getting there with a first-inning dinger during a win over the San Diego Padres. He is the only primary catcher to ever hit 50 blasts in a single season.
September
Home runs hit: 7 (and counting)
Sept. 2: Raleigh hit his first homer of September in a 6-5 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays. Rays starter Drew Rasmussen left a 96 mph fastball high and over the middle of the plate, and Raleigh launched it into the right-field stands at Steinbrenner Field.
Sept. 14: Following a one-week home run drought, Raleigh hit his 54th home run of the season to tie Mickey Mantle for the most home runs by a switch-hitter in a single season.
Sept. 16: Raleigh reached two milestones with a two-homer night against the Kansas City Royals. The catcher started off by hitting his 55th blast of the year in the third inning, breaking Mickey Mantle’s MLB record for homers by a switch-hitter in a single season. Mantle set the record with 54 homers in 1961.
Then, in the fourth, Raleigh hit home run No. 56 with a two-run shot to center field, tying Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. for the team single-season record.
With the two-homer performance, Raleigh turned into the initial player in MLB history with a multi-home run game against 10 different teams in the same season.
Sept. 17: Raleigh smacked a solo homer, his 57th of the season, to pass Ken Griffey Jr. for the Mariners’ single-season home run record. Griffey hit the 56 mark twice, in 1997 and ’98, but Raleigh now stands alone on top.
