2024
Raleigh broke a tooth after biting down on a sandwich on April 23,2024. Despite severe pain,he hit a home run in that night's game against the Texas Rangers. He had oral surgery the following day,missing just one game before his return to catching. [46] [47] On June 10,Raleigh hit a walk-off grand slam off Jordan Leasure,capping off a 8–4 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox. [48] [49] Raleigh homered from both sides of the plate twice in July,on July 9 against the San Diego Padres,then two days later against the Angels. [50] In the Mariners' final game of 2024,Raleigh hit his 34th home run of the season [51] to reach 100 RBIs in a season for the first time in his career. [35] It was his 93rd career home run,topping Mike Piazza for the most home runs in a catcher's first four MLB seasons. [52] However,Raleigh hit 15 of his home runs as designated hitter or pinch hitter, [53] while Piazza hit only one home run while not playing catcher in his first four seasons. [54]
Raleigh hit .220/.312/.436 with 34 home runs,100 RBI,and a career-high six stolen bases and 176 strikeouts in 2024. [35] He won the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove awards in 2024,becoming the first Mariner in franchise history to receive the latter honor. [55] [56] Raleigh particularly excelled as a pitch framer,playing a key role in elevating the Mariners' rotation to one of the most dominant and consistent in baseball. [57] [58] He was a Silver Slugger finalist for the third consecutive year. [59]
2025
On March 25,2025,Raleigh and the Mariners agreed to a six-year,$105 million contract extension with a seventh-year $20 million vesting player option with a $2 million buyout. [60]
On April 11,Raleigh became the Mariners' franchise home run leader among catchers,hitting his 96th career home run in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Texas Rangers. [61] On April 16,Raleigh recorded his 100th career home run,a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds. He became the fourth-fastest catcher (482 games) to reach 100 home runs,trailing only Gary Sánchez (355),Mike Piazza (422),and Rudy York (422). [62] He finished April with 10 home runs,tied for the major league lead with Aaron Judge and former teammate Eugenio Suárez. [63] On May 30 against the Minnesota Twins,Raleigh hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning,thus becoming the first catcher in history to hit 20 home runs before the end of May. It marks just the 29th time in MLB history and the 5th time a Mariners player has reached 20 homers by the end of May,joining Ken Griffey Jr. (3×,1994,’97,’99) and Alex Rodriguez (1998). [64] On June 2,Raleigh was named the American League Player of the Week,co-winning with Junior Caminero for May 26-June 1,a span in which he batted .348 (8–23) with 6 Runs,6 home runs,10 RBI,and an OPS of 1.575. It was his first career Player of the Week Award. [65] Raleigh became the first player in the season to reach 25 home runs against the Los Angeles Angels on June 7 when he hit a three-run home run off of pitcher Jack Kochanowicz in the first inning. [66] On June 17,Raleigh registered his eighth stolen base,the most stolen bases in a single season by a catcher in Mariners history. [67] On June 20,Raleigh hit his 28th and 29th home runs against the Chicago Cubs. With his performance,Raleigh passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a primary catcher before the All-Star break. Bench set the record during the 1970 season with 28 home runs in 87 games. Raleigh broke the 55-year-old record with 22 games remaining before the All-Star game. [68] On June 21,Raleigh became the first player to reach 30 home runs in the season,and became the first catcher in MLB history—and first switch-hitter—to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break. He was the fastest player to 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzales in 2001. In Mariners franchise history,Raleigh joins Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners players to reach 30-plus homers before the break. [69] On June 23,Raleigh was named the American League Player of the Week for June 16–22,a span in which he batted .417 (10–24) with 10 Runs,five home runs,12 RBI,and an OPS of 1.606. [70]
At the end of June,Raleigh reached 33 home runs,putting him in a three-way tie for third place for the most home runs in Major League history through June with Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa in 1998. At the time,Raleigh trailed only Barry Bonds with 39 in 2001 and Mark McGwire with 37 in 1998. [71] Raleigh was named the American League Player of the Month in June 2025,after slashing .300/.398/.690 with 11 homers and 27 RBIs on the month. The honor was Raleigh's first Player of the Month. [72]
On July 4,Raleigh hit two home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates,where he set a new single-season career high of 35 homers in 61 fewer games. With his second homer,he tied Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) for most homers in franchise history before the All-Star break. The first homer he hit was 115.2 mph as well,the hardest-hit ball of Raleigh's career. [73] Raleigh was selected as the American League's starting catcher on July 2,winning both the fan vote and player vote and trailing only Aaron Judge in total votes. [74] On July 8,Raleigh passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the most home runs hit before the All-Star break in Mariners history with a home run against the Yankees. [75] On July 11,2025,in a game against the Detroit Tigers,Raleigh hit two home runs—his 37th and 38th of the season. The second was a grand slam and brought him within one home run of Barry Bonds’all-time MLB record of 39 home runs before the All-Star break. With those two home runs,Raleigh set the AL record for most home runs before the All-Star Break. [76]
On June 27,Raleigh announced that he would participate in the 2025 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby,and invited his dad Todd,former coach of the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team,to pitch to him with his brother Todd Jr. catching. [77] [78] Raleigh won the Home Run Derby,defeating Rays infielder Junior Caminero in the final round,18–15. Raleigh became the first switch hitter to win the derby outright,the first Mariner to win the derby since Ken Griffey Jr. did so three times in 1994,1998,and 1999;and the first catcher in MLB history to win the derby. [79] On July 22,Raleigh tied Griffey with the most homers in a player's first five seasons in Mariners franchise history,with 132 when hit the only run of the game via a solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. [80] On July 27,Raleigh hit a 416-foot home run against the Los Angeles Angels off pitcher JoséFermín. With that homer,Raleigh became the first catcher and first switch-hitter in MLB history to hit 40 home runs before the end of July. He’s now the fifth different player in Mariners franchise history to hit at least 40 home runs in a single season,putting him alongside Ken Griffey Jr.,Jay Buhner,Alex Rodriguez,and Nelson Cruz. Raleigh is also the seventh catcher with 40+ home runs in a season,joining Johnny Bench,Mike Piazza (who each did it twice),Roy Campanella,Todd Hundley,Javy López,and Salvador Perez. [81] On July 31,Raleigh hit his 42nd home run against the Texas Rangers off Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker. With that homer,Raleigh has the most homers in a single season by a switch-hitting catcher,surpassing Todd Hundley. [82] On August 24,Raleigh hit his 48th and 49th home runs against the Athletics. With his second homer,Raleigh has the most homers in a single season by a primary catcher,surpassing Salvador Perez. Also,in that same game,Raleigh has the most multi-homer games in a season by a switch-hitter with nine games,surpassing Mickey Mantle and most multi-homer games in a season in Mariners history with nine games,surpassing Ken Griffey Jr. [83] On August 25,Raleigh hit his 50th home run of the season against San Diego Padres pitcher JP Sears,becoming the first primary catcher to hit 50 home runs in a season and the second Mariner to do so after Ken Griffey,Jr. [84] Also in the same game,Raleigh became the second switch-hitter in Major League history to hit 50 home runs in a season,joining Mickey Mantle. He also became the first player to hit 20 home runs from each side of the plate in a season. [85]
