Cal Raleigh has become the home run king among catchers before the All-Star Game, doing it in just 73 games!

The Seattle Mariners' catcher, Cal Raleigh, has reached a historic level in his outstanding power-hitting season.

In today’s game, during a 9-4 win against the Cubs, this catcher hit his 28th home run of the season in the second inning and then hit a two-run go-ahead homer in the seventh inning (the ball flew over Waveland Avenue) for his 29th. This achievement allowed him to tie and surpass Johnny Bench, becoming the player with the most home runs as a starting catcher before the All-Star Game.

The historic backdrop of Wrigley Field, with the away section chanting "M-V-P!", added significance to this moment. "Being compared to one of the greatest catchers of all time is obviously something special," Raleigh stated.

Bench set the original record with 28 home runs in 87 games in 1970, while Raleigh surpassed it in just 73 games—14 games fewer. Raleigh broke this 55-year-old record with 22 games remaining before the All-Star Game. Recently, Bench revealed to USA Today that he is a big fan of "Big Dumper." The two had a deep conversation at the Gold Glove Awards last November, where the ten-time Gold Glove winner emphasized the importance of durability; Raleigh has only missed one game this season out of 74.

At his current pace, Raleigh is on track to hit 63 home runs in a single season, which would break the record for catchers set by Salvador Perez of the Royals in 2021 with 48 home runs, and slightly surpass Aaron Judge's 62 home runs in the American League in 2022. He also has the potential to break Mickey Mantle's record of 54 home runs in a single season for switch-hitters set in 1961. Mantle's pre-All-Star total of 29 home runs remains the record for switch-hitters, tied with Raleigh and three others (the most recent being José Ramírez from Cleveland in 2018).

In Mariners history, only Ken Griffey Jr. had more home runs than Raleigh in the first half of the season—Griffey surpassed 30 home runs three times, with a record 35 in 1998.

Today also marked Raleigh's sixth multi-home run game of the season (the second one achieved purely from the right side), tying Mike Piazza's record for the most games with a catcher who did not play other positions in a single season, and he is closing in on Javy Lopez's historical record of eight games from 2003. Mariners Hall of Fame catcher Dan Wilson exclaimed, "Unbelievable."

Raleigh leads the MLB home run leaderboard with 29 home runs (Judge is second with 26, and Shohei Ohtani is third with 25), and he is tied with Pete Alonso for the most RBIs with 63.

Home Run Leaders Among Starting Catchers Before the All-Star Game
2025 Cal Raleigh: 28 home runs (73 games)
1970 Johnny Bench: 28 home runs (87 games)
2000 Ivan Rodriguez: 26 home runs (80 games)

Speaking about the All-Star Game, Raleigh said earlier this month to MLB.com that he would "immediately accept" an invitation to participate in this year's Home Run Derby.

His first homer came against former teammate Matthew Boyd in 2012, where Raleigh pulled a low 94.6 mph outside pitch into left-center field for a 381-foot solo home run (the ball hit the ivy-covered wall and bounced out). Statcast indicated that this home run benefited from a 12 mph tailwind, with only one ballpark capable of producing a home run. In the seventh inning, he targeted a 94.2 mph fastball, hitting a 419-foot home run that cleared the stands for the game-winning hit.

Designated hitter Mitch Garver also hit two home runs in the game, marking his 100th career home run, with all nine of the Mariners' runs coming after two outs.