Cal Raleigh 'Humbled' by Historic MLB Season After Breaking Mickey Mantle's Record
After reaching another milestone by surpassing Mickey Mantle's single-season record for homers by a switch-hitter, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is running out of words to describe what he is doing.
Following the Mariners' 12-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, Raleigh told reporters he's been "humbled" by what he has accomplished in 2025.
"It's really cool. I'm humbled by it. A crazy kind of thing I never thought would happen," he said. "Just taking it day-by-day, pitch-by-pitch. Really enjoying every day with these guys and just trying to finish the season strong."
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Raleigh hit two homers on Tuesday night, giving him 56 for the season. Mantle's record for home runs by a switch-hitter had stood for 64 years when he hit 54 in 1961.
In addition to surpassing Mantle's record, Raleigh is now tied with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most homers in a season by a Mariners player. Griffey hit 56 in back-to-back years in 1997 and 1998, with the '97 season coinciding with him winning AL MVP.
Raleigh is still in a tight race with Aaron Judge for the AL MVP with 11 games remaining in the regular season. Judge still leads MLB in batting average (.326), on-base percentage (.451) and slugging percentage (.676).
The advanced metrics are very close between the two. Judge leads all position players with 8.8 FanGraphs' wins above replacement. Raleigh is second at 8.4.
Playing primarily as a catcher could give Raleigh an edge. He could also be helped by the Mariners' recent surge that has seen them win 10 straight games and moving into first place in the AL West, leading the Houston Astros by one game in the loss column.
The Yankees (84-67) do have a better record than Seattle (83-68), though both teams seem like solid bets to make the playoffs at this point.
Regardless of how the AL MVP voting plays out, there's no denying that what Raleigh is doing in 2025 already stands as one of the best seasons in MLB history by a catcher and switch-hitter.
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