Can Cal Raleigh Obliterate All The Catcher Home Run Records?
Big Dumper's first half has been so powerful, we've never seen it happen before.
There’s hot, and then there’s Seattle Mariners catcher, Cal Raleigh.
The switch-hitter is MLB’s home run leader, and he’s doing it in the most impressive way possible. His single-season career-high mark for homers coming into the 2025 season was 34, which he set last season.
But at this rate, he’s likely to surpass it before the All-Star break in July.
Now that he’s surpassed the 30-homer plateau, he’s accomplished a few things. He’s not only the first switch-hitter to do that before the midsummer classic, but he’s also broken Johnny Bench’s record for the most first-half homers ever by a catcher.
Raleigh has also become the second Mariners hitter ever to reach 30 homers by the All-Star break. He joins none other than Ken Griffey Jr., who did it three times.
Two very specific home run records come to mind for me as Big Dumper wreaks havoc on opposing pitching every night. They’re the simple ones: the single-season and all-time home run records.
Raleigh Is On Pace to Smash the Single-Season Catcher HR Record
Salvador Perez is currently the single-season catcher home run king. He slugged 48 taters for the Kansas City Royals in 2021. Salvy set this record thanks to an incredible second half. After hitting 21 dingers through 89 games in the first half, he turned around and mashed another 27 in just 72 games following the midsummer classic.
But with the way Raleigh’s first half has gone, he’ll be nearing Perez in no time — if he can stay healthy and maintain some semblance of his current pace. He’s been able to hit them in bunches, too.
He’s likely to begin his 2025 campaign with three straight months of double-digit taters and has registered six different multi-homer efforts. It took him just 75 games to reach the 30-homer plateau, which is the fastest since 2001 when Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez both did it.
Speaking of Bonds, he currently holds the record for the most homers before the All-Star break with 39. Is that within Raleigh’s reach? I wouldn’t put anything past him right now — the dude has been on a heater for months and is showing no signs of slowing down.
What About Raleigh’s Pursuit of the All-Time Catcher Home Run Record?
Even before his early-2025 power binge, Big Dumper was putting himself in rare air when it comes to home run power from backstops.
He finished the 2024 campaign with 93 career homers, which moved him past Mike Piazza for the most dingers by a primary catcher through their first four big-league seasons. And, speaking of Piazza, he’s baseball’s all-time catcher home run leader with 396 taters.
With this onslaught by Raleigh, it’s not outrageous to wonder if he can continue some form of this power display while donning the tools of ignorance. While his 2025 production appears to be an outlier right now, it’s not as if he didn’t already flash power in the past. He hasn’t hit fewer than 27 homers in a season since 2022 and has surpassed the 30-homer plateau in 2023 and 2024.
However, a record-breaking season that could potentially have him finish with 50-plus if he keeps things up would certainly put him in a good position to challenge Piazza.
That still doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be challenging, though. Raleigh is in the midst of his age-28 campaign. Not even thinking about how many more homers he could hit this year, he’d have to average about 30 homers per season for approximately the next decade to approach Piazza’s record.
That’s not necessarily insurmountable, but it just puts into perspective how good Piazza was during his career.
Surpassing him on the all-time catcher home run leaderboard will take a while — if it happens. But right now, two things that could squarely be in Raleigh’s sights include Perez’s single-season record and Mickey Mantle’s single-season home run record for switch hitters (54).
That should keep him busy enough for now.
P.S. At this rate, Raleigh will be ascending the Mariners’ all-time home run leaderboard with astonishing speed. Who will he be trying to pass? Grab a copy of MLB Home Run Records: All-Time Leaders for Each Team in Baseball History to find out. You can grab the paperback version on Amazon if you want to geek out over more baseball power history.
Single-Season HR Performances | Career HR Performances | Postseason HR Leaders | HR Derby Performances
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Power-hitting catchers are so exciting.