| Cal Raleigh | |
| Team: | Seattle Mariners |
| Number: | 29 |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Birth Date: | 26 November 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Cullowhee, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Bats: | Switch |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | July 11 |
| Debutyear: | 2021 |
| Debutteam: | Seattle Mariners |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | August 19, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .215 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 86 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 229 |
| Teams: |
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Caleb John Raleigh (born November 26, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. His nickname is Big Dumper.[1]
Raleigh attended Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, North Carolina. He enrolled at Florida State University (FSU) and played college baseball for the Florida State Seminoles.[2] [3] In 2016, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[4] In 2018, his junior year at FSU, he slashed .326/.447/.583 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs over 62 games.[5] After the season, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[6]
Raleigh made his professional debut with the Low-A Everett AquaSox, batting .288 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 38 games. He started 2019 with the High-A Modesto Nuts, with whom he was named a California League All-Star,[7] before being promoted to the Double-A Arkansas Travelers.[8] Over 121 games between the two clubs, Raleigh slashed .251/.323/.497 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs.
Raleigh did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, and hit .324/.377/.608 with 9 home runs and 36 RBI in 44 games.[10]
On July 11, 2021, Raleigh was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[11] He made his MLB debut on July 11, starting at catcher in a game against the Los Angeles Angels, going 0–4 with two strikeouts. Raleigh recorded his first career hits and RBIs on July 20 in a win against the Colorado Rockies. On July 23, Raleigh hit his first career home run, a two-run shot off Oakland Athletics starter Frankie Montas.[12] He finished the 2021 season with a .180/.223/.309 slash line, 25 hits, 12 doubles, 2 home runs, 13 RBIs and 52 strikeouts, all in 47 games.
Raleigh began the 2022 season on the major league roster but remained with Tacoma. He then returned to the Mariners on May 7 to replace injured catcher Tom Murphy and became a major offensive talent to help the team to seven wins in ten games by June.[13] [14] On September 30, Raleigh hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics to clinch the Mariners' first playoff trip since their 2001 season, ending the longest active playoff drought amongst the four major North American sports leagues.[15] Raleigh had 27 home runs by the end of the season, leading all catchers in MLB and setting a new Mariners record for most home runs in a season by a catcher.[16] [17] He would also have a huge role in the Mariners postseason. In the Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Raleigh hit a two-run home run off of Alek Manoah, an RBI hit off of Anthony Bass, and scored the winning run in game two. He finished the 2022 season with a .211/.284/.489 slash line, 78 hits, 20 doubles, a triple, 27 home runs, and 63 runs batted in across his 119 games. He was a nominee for the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger at the catcher position, but he lost out to Jose Trevino of the New York Yankees and Alejandro Kirk of the Toronto Blue Jays, respectively.
On May 15, 2023, during a 10–1 victory against the Boston Red Sox, Raleigh became the first catcher in the 112-year history of Fenway Park to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, doing so in back-to-back plate appearances.[18] In 145 games for Seattle in 2023, he batted .232/.306/.456 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI.
On June 10, 2024, Raleigh hit a walk–off grand slam against Jordan Leasure as part of a 8–4 comeback victory against the Chicago White Sox.[19]