Cal Raleigh is the Mariners starting catcher by August
Cal Raleigh has looked great in Spring Traning so far and had a great Instructional League. All signs currently point towards Raliegh making his debut in 2021 as he’s the third-string catcher and looks MLB ready. If either Tom Murphy or Luis Torrens get injured then Raleigh will be the next man up.
So chances are in the first few months of the season either Murphy or Torrens will have to be sent down due to poor performance or will end up on the injured list. This opens the door for Raleigh to be called up and I see his impressive stats from the minors, Instructional League, and Spring Training carrying over.
Then after just a few weeks in the bigs, Raleigh will be the everyday starting catcher as the Mariners continue to commit to the youth movement. As is the case with many things that we wonder about the team, former team president Kevin Mather did say that Cal Raleigh is the future for Seattle at the catcher spot. So, if he’s right then the Mariners will want to make Raleigh their starting catcher at the first chance they get.