
via Imago
Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

via Imago
Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The Seattle Mariners won their last match on August 24th against the Oakland Athletics with an 11-4 victory. It pushed their division record to 70-61 and strengthened their second position in the AL West division. But there was something special about that match that had never happened in baseball history. Is that Big Dumper’s two homers that helped them to clinch that victory against the A’s? Yes, it was special, but it was one of his 9 multi-homer games of the season, so what made that special?
His 412-foot smash in the second innings against pitcher Jacob Lopez was his 49th, breaking the record for a catcher held by Salvador Perez. But the story didn’t end there. Cal Raleigh stepped up to the plate against the Padres’ J.P. Sears in the first inning, blasted a 419-foot homer off the left field on the very next day. It was his 50th home run of the season, a number no primary catcher had ever reached. And it puts Raleigh in a direct battle with Yankees superstar Aaron Judge for the MVP race.
Let’s look at Raleigh first: Carl isn’t just leading the list in home runs; he also has more RBIs (106) and stolen bases (14) than Aaron Judge, who has 92 RBIs and 8 SBs. He sits among league leaders with a .945 OPS. But his true MVP case is built on his position.
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BIG DUMPER MAKES HISTORY! The first catcher EVER to hit 50 home runs in one season! pic.twitter.com/HWGcONjH3B
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 26, 2025
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He has saved his team five runs with his defense. His massive +11.7 positional adjustment, combined with this, increased his overall value. For all of this, FanGraphs credits him with a 7.3 fWAR, and Baseball-Reference lists a 5.7 bWAR this season.
But the Captain is still the king of hitting with his .323 batting average, .439 on-base percentage, .669 slugging percentage, and 1.108 OPS. That’s why is why Baseball-Reference’s WAR (bWAR) still gives Judge a slight edge, 6.8 to 5.7.
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Why does Cal Raleigh winning the MVP over Aaron Judge matter?
Cal Raleigh achieved this incredible feat with 31 games still left to play. What makes the record even more special is that 40 of his homers came when he was playing catcher. When Salvador Perez set the record, 15 of his 48 homers came as a DH.
And a quick history check shows only a handful of catchers ever reached forty homers in a season: Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley, Javy López, and Salvador Perez. And he became the second player from the Mariners, after Ken Griffey Jr, to hit 50 homers in a single season.
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What’s your perspective on:
Cal Raleigh's 50 homers as a catcher—does this make him a more deserving MVP than Judge?
Have an interesting take?
But still winning the MVP award as a catcher is an incredible story. Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants was the last one to do it when he hit .336 with 24 homers in 2012. Before him was Minnesota’s Joe Mauer in 2009, and then you have to go back 10 years to get the name of Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez in 1999. This difference in timeline is enough to show how rare one has to be to be an MVP and a catcher at the same time.
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And of course, this is not just a two-man race for the AL crown. Other contenders like Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr (with 19 homers and 34 stolen bases), Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (2.28 ERA and 212 strikeouts), and Cleveland’s José Ramírez (with 26HR-36SB) can change the narrative of the race anytime.
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Cal Raleigh's 50 homers as a catcher—does this make him a more deserving MVP than Judge?