One year ago, Cal Raleigh was coming off one of the most incredible offensive seasons we have ever seen from a catcher. Now, less than a year later, the Seattle Mariners star looks like a completely different hitter.
Raleigh’s career has always been built around power. When he debuted with Seattle in 2021, he struggled offensively, batting just .180 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 47 games. But by 2022, we started to see what Raleigh could become. He blasted 27 home runs, added 20 doubles and drove in 63 runs, establishing himself as one of the better power-hitting catchers in baseball.
He continued progressing in 2023, hitting 30 home runs with 75 RBIs and 23 doubles over 145 games. His .232 batting average wasn’t anything spectacular, but Raleigh wasn’t being asked to win batting titles. His value came from handling a pitching staff behind the plate while providing legitimate middle-of-the-order power. He finished 18th in the American League MVP voting that season.
Then came another step forward in 2024. Raleigh hit 34 home runs and reached the 100-RBI mark for the first time. His average dipped to .220, but he continued establishing himself as one of baseball’s premier catchers, winning a Gold Glove and finishing 12th in the MVP voting.
And then came the magical 2025 season.
Raleigh exploded for 60 home runs, 125 RBIs and 110 runs scored while batting a career-best .247 with a .948 OPS. He collected 147 hits and played 159 games, missing only three all season. He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger and finished second in the MVP voting behind Aaron Judge.
It was the type of season that changed the expectations surrounding Raleigh. Nobody should have expected another 60-home-run season because seasons like that don’t happen very often. But considering Raleigh had already hit 27, 30 and 34 home runs in consecutive seasons before his historic 2025 campaign, there was every reason to believe he had established himself as a consistent 30-plus-home-run hitter.
Hits this season:
Aaron Judge: 53 (hasn’t played since May)
Cal Raleigh: 52 pic.twitter.com/YOjjl4u6g6
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) August 18, 2026
That’s what makes 2026 so difficult to understand.
Through 91 games, Raleigh has just 13 home runs, eight doubles and is batting .158. Even more concerning is that there hasn’t been one particular month where things suddenly fell apart. The struggles have followed him throughout much of the season.
There is, however, one major factor that can’t be ignored: his health.
Raleigh missed more than a month after going down in May with a right oblique injury, not returning until June 16. Oblique injuries can be particularly difficult for hitters because so much of generating power comes from the rotation of the core. For a player whose offensive game is centered around power, even being slightly compromised can make a major difference.
And Raleigh hasn’t looked like himself since returning. He hit just .174 in June with one home run and five RBIs. He followed that by batting .165 with three home runs in July, and through August his average has fallen to .114 with only two home runs.
That brings up another interesting question. Raleigh participated in the World Baseball Classic before the regular season, and he certainly hasn’t been the only player this year dealing with an oblique issue. Could the earlier ramp-up required for the WBC have played some role in his injury? It’s difficult to make that direct connection, but with the physical demands placed on a catcher, it is at least worth wondering whether the shortened preparation period had an impact.
But even the injury doesn’t completely explain what we’re watching.
Raleigh wasn’t hitting particularly well before he went down. His slow start began almost immediately, and the power that defined his previous four seasons simply hasn’t been there consistently. The injury may have made things worse, but it doesn’t appear to be the entire story.
Cal Raleigh homers for the 13th time this season pic.twitter.com/GE0Ew1akfl
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 17, 2026
That leaves Seattle with the question everyone is trying to answer: What happened to Cal Raleigh?
Was his incredible 2025 season simply a career year that will never be duplicated? Is 2026 just the opposite, a disastrous season where injuries, timing and confidence have all collided at once? Or is Raleigh still dealing with the effects of an oblique injury that has prevented him from finding the swing that made him one of baseball’s most dangerous power hitters?
The answer probably won’t come until we see what Raleigh does next.
Nobody should expect 60 home runs every season. But this is also a catcher who hit 91 home runs from 2022 through 2024 before exploding for 60 more in 2025. That track record suggests there is a lot more power in his bat than what we’ve seen this year.
What makes Raleigh’s struggles even more significant is that despite everything that has gone wrong, the Mariners are still very much alive. Seattle sits at 59-66, just two games out of a Wild Card spot and only four games back in the American League West. They haven’t played particularly well lately, going just 3-7 over their last 10 games, although they have won two straight.
That’s what makes Raleigh potentially finding his swing so important. The Mariners don’t need to make up 10 or 15 games in the standings. They are right there, and nobody they are chasing has exactly run away with anything. The Astros have been floundering, the Rangers have lost six of their last 10, and the teams battling for the Wild Card are hovering around .500 or below it. As strange as it might sound, the American League playoff race is wide open for whichever team decides to get hot.
You can certainly argue that it’s almost a travesty that a team playing around or below .500 could find its way into the postseason, but that’s the reality of this year’s American League. And for Seattle, it means there is still an opportunity not only to grab a Wild Card spot, but potentially make a run at the division if the Astros continue to struggle.
That’s where Raleigh comes in. Seattle doesn’t need him to suddenly become the 60-home-run version of himself again. If he can simply rediscover the power that made him a consistent 30-plus-home-run threat before his historic 2025 season, it could change the direction of the Mariners’ year. With Seattle still within striking distance of both a Wild Card spot and the AL West, one strong stretch from Raleigh could help turn a struggling team into one nobody wants to face down the stretch.
The question surrounding Cal Raleigh is no longer whether he can repeat his historic 2025 season. It’s whether he can find his way back to being the hitter he was before it.
If Cal Raleigh can find himself again, Seattle might just find its season along with him.
