ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cal Raleigh reached another landmark in his incredible season Saturday night when he drilled his 40th home run deep into the right-field bleachers at Angel Stadium.
Becoming the seventh catcher in major league history to hit 40 homers had been all but inevitable for Raleigh ever since the Seattle Mariners slugger reached the All-Star break with 38 — and then won the Home Run Derby.
Raleigh still felt the 40th was special, mostly because it broke a tie and propelled the Mariners to a valuable 7-2 victory in their playoff chase.
“It’s a cool milestone to hit, and I’m very thankful for it, and it’s a cool moment for sure,” Raleigh said. “I look back to 20 or 30, and that was cool, and 40 is definitely very cool as well. I’m not trying to downplay it, but I’m glad we got the win tonight, and I’ll look back one day and it will be cool.”
Raleigh is the first player in the majors to hit 40 this season, doing it before August.
He crushed a 2-0 fastball from struggling Angels reliever Jose Fermin, driving it 416 feet with a 113.5 mph exit velocity. The shot put the Mariners up 3-2 in the sixth, and they added three more runs in the inning to take control of their second win in three games in Anaheim.
“I’m sure it feels great to get to 40,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. “I’m sure he wants to get to 41 as soon as possible because he knows it helps us win ballgames, and at this point, that’s what he’s looking for. Knowing Cal, he wants us to win. But a big milestone for sure. The season, the numbers that he’s put up is pretty staggering. This is just another one of those notches on the belt.”
Although he was the Mariners’ designated hitter Saturday, Raleigh joined an elite club of hitters who primarily played catcher during their 40-homer seasons.
Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza did it twice, while Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley and Javy Lopez were joined in 2021 by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez, who set the single-season record for catchers with 48.
Perez’s mark is reachable for Raleigh, who would need to average just one homer a week for the rest of the regular season to top it.
Raleigh is only the fifth player in Mariners history to hit 40 homers, and he joins elite Pacific Northwest company: Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz and Jay Buhner.
“They’re really good players,” Raleigh said. “They’re some of the best that’s ever come through here, so very honored to be a part of that group. It’s a cool thing. Just try to keep going and see how far we can take it.”
Raleigh also tied Griffey (1998) for the most homers in Seattle history through 105 games of a season while becoming only the eighth player in major league history to hit 40 in his team’s first 105 games — just the second to do it in the 21st century, joining Aaron Judge (2022).
Raleigh reached his latest landmark on a day when his American League MVP candidacy indirectly got a boost: Judge, who could win his third MVP award in four seasons, went on the 10-day injured list because of a flexor strain in his right elbow — although the Yankees superstar’s absence isn’t expected to be lengthy.
Raleigh’s production has slowed in July. He came into Saturday night’s game batting .162 with just 11 hits in 18 games this month, although six of those hits were homers.
Raleigh had two hits and struck out three times Saturday night, but Wilson has seen progress in Raleigh’s approach at the plate recently.
“I think, for the most part, it’s an adjustment period,” Wilson said. “Teams start to pitch around you a little bit, and I think you become aware of that and start making the adjustments there. But I think he’s just been very consistent pretty much all this season, and I think that’s what’s been so great for me to see, and for all of us to benefit from. He’s just been so consistent, and to do this while raising his batting average at the same time, pretty incredible.”