Mariners’ Cal Raleigh wins first weekly MLB award of his career

Cal Raleigh is in a zone right now, resulting in some much deserved recognition by Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners catcher.

When it comes to the Seattle Mariners there’s little doubt that Cal Raleigh is the team’s MVP, as he puts together what is becoming a special season. And that special season continued on Monday, as he was named American League Co-Player of the Week for the period May 26-June 1, along with Tampa Bay Rays infielder Junior Caminero.

Raleigh’s week saw him hit .346 in six games and in the process produce six home runs and 10 RBI on the way to a 1.575 OPS, while also claiming a stolen base. Following on from Dylan Moore and Jorge Polanco earlier this season, this is the first weekly award of his Major League career.

Home runs galore for Cal Raleigh

As a result of Raleigh’s offensive onslaught, he became the first catcher in MLB history to reach 20 home runs by the end of May. Further, as of Tuesday morning he has 23 homers, which is tied with a certain Shohei Ohtani for the most in all of baseball.

Raleigh has played in all 58 games for the Mariners so far in 2025 – 46 as a catcher and 12 as the DH – and he is on course for the best season yet of his five seasons in the majors. His .264/.379/.637 slash line, 1.016 OPS and 194 OPS+ are all projected to be career-highs.

To really help encapsulate just how special this season could be for the 28-year-old, his 3.8 fWAR projects to 10.6, which would be the best ever by a Major League catcher. As per The Athletic‘s Tyler Kepner (subscription required), even a slight drop-off would still have him on course to become just the ninth instance of a player at his position producing a 8.0+ fWAR.

Staying on the subject of setting records – whether realistic or not – to give another idea of just what Raleigh is achieving so far this season, consider that he’s currently projected to hit 64 home runs. This would surpass the all-time AL record of 62, which was set in 2022 by Aaron Judge.

Not that setting records is anything new to Raleigh, who just last year surpassed Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for the most home runs by a catcher in their first four Major League seasons, with 93. He also won his first Gold and Platinum Gloves, and should add his inaugural All-Star selection in the coming weeks.

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Mariners grateful for what they have in Raleigh

In a phone call with Kepner on Monday, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipto raved about just how good his 2018 third round draft pick has become. Dipoto said:

” … if you look at what he’s starting to accumulate, he’s pushing 20 (career) wins above replacement. He’s playing his 28-year-old season, and he’s gotten better with each passing year. I really could go on about it for a long time, but he deserves to be recognized with the best players in the game.”

It seems beyond doubt that Raleigh is the best catcher in the game today and arguably already the best at the position in team history. In fact, if he continues to produce as he is he will go down as one of the top Mariners players in team history full stop, along with the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martínez, Ichiro Suzuki and Félix Hernández and Randy Johnson.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

How far do you see this special season taking Raleigh? He seems all but certain to earn his first ever All-Star selection, but how conceivable is it for him to end up being named AL MVP? Let us know in the comments section below.