Cal Raleigh's Historic 60-Homer Season Puts Him in AL MVP Debate

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh delivered a historic 2025 season, hitting 60 home runs and driving in 125 runs, both single-season records for catchers and switch-hitters. His impressive stat line of .247/.359/.589 with a 169 OPS+ and 7.4 bWAR earned him a spot as an AL MVP finalist, battling Aaron Judge for the award. Despite Judge's higher batting average and OPS, Raleigh's power numbers and his demanding role behind the plate make his production MVP-worthy in most years. If Raleigh were to win, he would become only the third Mariners player to receive the award, joining franchise legends Ken Griffey Jr. (1997) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).