SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� While slugger Aaron Judge took batting practice at T-Mobile Park, an advertisement featuring him and Cal Raleigh flashed on the videoboard with a link to buy tickets to the series between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.
The reigning AL MVP was in the No. 2 hole for the Yankees on Monday night, but Raleigh, last year after hitting 60 homers 鈥� the most in a season by a catcher 鈥� was not in the Mariners’ starting lineup for the opener.
That didn’t stop Raleigh, who started the season 2 for 15 with 10 strikeouts, from playing the hero. He came off the bench in the seventh inning and just inside first base in the ninth that gave Seattle a 2-1 victory.
鈥淚 was just looking for something hard over the heart of the plate,” Raleigh said. “It cut in on my hands a little bit, but I was able to keep it fair.鈥�
Before the game, manager Dan Wilson said he sat Raleigh, who appeared in three World Baseball Classic games for the United States, to get him some rest four games into the season.
鈥淐oming out of spring training, he had sort of a shorter spring training in a lot of ways,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淎nd, didn鈥檛 want to spike his workload too much.鈥�
Last season, Raleigh appeared in a career-high 159 games for the Mariners and racked up 705 plate appearances, as well as an American League-best 125 RBIs. Ahead of arriving in Seattle, Judge told The Associated Press he was particularly impressed by Raleigh鈥檚 work ethic while they were teammates at the WBC.
鈥淕reatness leaves a trail,鈥� Judge said. 鈥淛ust how he controls himself, how he controls that pitching staff, he鈥檚 going to have another great year, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
As much as Raleigh excelled last season, it took a bit for the 29-year-old to hit his stride last year, too. It wasn鈥檛 until his 10th game of the season in 2025 that Raleigh鈥檚 average climbed above .200, and it took until mid-April for the powerful catcher to start hitting home runs at a prodigious clip.
It’s in part why the even-keeled Raleigh isn’t particularly worried about his own performance, or that of similarly struggling teammates like Josh Naylor (0 for 19) or Julio Rodr铆guez (1 for 19).
鈥淚t鈥檒l be OK. I know a lot of people in that locker room, a lot of guys across the league are fighting the same thing,” Raleigh said. “They鈥檙e trying to find timing. And, it鈥檚 under a microscope more so now than it is in the middle of a season just because it鈥檚 the start of the season, everybody鈥檚 excited.鈥�
While Raleigh drew ample headlines for his hitting prowess in 2025, what separates him according to Guardians manager Stephen Vogt is that he鈥檚 a multi-dimensional talent, not just a hitter.
Vogt, who was a major league catcher for 10 years, said he thinks Raleigh is clearly the best two-way catcher in the game, but expectations should be tempered a bit in light of what he accomplished last year.
鈥淔or him to hit 60 homers again is unrealistic,鈥� Vogt said. 鈥淚 think if anybody鈥檚 expectation is 50-plus homers for anyone, it鈥檚 just not realistic. But, I think Cal鈥檚 still a great offensive player, and I think he鈥檚 going to have another great year.鈥�
It may be unrealistic for Raleigh to again match Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, who also hit 60 home runs in 1927, a single-season record that stood for 34 years. But, Raleigh has hit at least 30 home runs each of the last three seasons, and the Mariners hope to receive that kind of production from the All-Star catcher again in 2026.
Wilson said last season, the Mariners consistently monitored Raleigh鈥檚 workload to see if his production would ever dip. But it never did, and it wasn鈥檛 until the 35th game of the season that Raleigh did not start either at catcher or designated hitter.
This season, Wilson evidently took a more proactive approach 鈥� and reaped the rewards quite quickly.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to assess this as we go and make sure that we don鈥檛 put him in a tough spot,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 a hard guy to get out of the lineup because he wants to be in there so badly. But, I think it just felt like today was a good day to get him some rest.鈥�
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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.
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