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Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits 29th homer before All-Star break, most by a catcher in MLB history
Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits 29th homer before All-Star break, most by a catcher in MLB history
With his 29th home run on Friday, Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh has hit the most homers by a catcher before the All-Star break in MLB history.
The milestone home run came off Chicago Cubs pitcher Caleb Thielbar in the seventh inning of Friday's matchup at Wrigley Field.
Raleigh, 28, surpassed Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who hit 28 home runs before MLB's midseason break during the 1970 season. Fellow Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez had 26 home runs prior to the All-Star break in 2000.
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Setting Raleigh's achievement further apart from those catching greats is how quickly he reached that home run mark. Raleigh hit his 29th homer in the 73rd game of the season. Bench hit his 28 in 87 games, while Rodriguez got to 26 in 80 games.
Raleigh's 29 home runs currently lead MLB, three more than New York Yankees star Aaron Judge and four ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani. He's batting .266/.373/.622 with 14 doubles and 62 RBI to go with his home run total.
The Mariners catcher tied Bench with his 28th homer in the first inning off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd.
Nicknamed "The Big Dumper" by former teammate Jarred Kelenic for his large backside and penchant for clutch home runs, Raleigh is well on his way to surpassing the career-best 34 home runs he hit last season. A third-round pick in 2018 out of Florida State, he's reached 30 or more homers for the past two years.
