Cal Raleigh doesn't need the AL MVP to glorify historic 60-homer season

Cal Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners' All-Star catcher, has had a historic season in 2025. He just put a major bow on it with his 60th home run of the season on Wednesday — and in a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies that served as the AL West clincher, no less.

It's an incredible achievement, one that will be remembered for the rest of baseball history.

While Mariners fans are hoping Raleigh can win the AL MVP award for his efforts, it still does not feel likely. New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge holds significant leads over Raleigh in bWAR, OPS, and batting average, despite having nine fewer home runs.

Yet while an MVP award would be cool, it is not necessary for Raleigh's season to occupy a special place in baseball lore. MVP or not, he has accomplished more this year than almost any other player in baseball history.

Cal Raleigh's 2025 season stands alone in MLB history

Raleigh joins a small and elite group of power hitters with 60 home runs. He's just the seventh player in MLB history to reach the mark, joining Judge, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds. That group consists of four corner outfielders and a first baseman.

To reach 60 home runs as a catcher had been unheard of, and Raleigh has done it. The previous mark for catchers was set by Salvador Perez in 2022, when he hit 48 long balls. That record was crushed by Raleigh, who surpassed Perez in late August.

Next, Raleigh surpassed Mickey Mantle, who previously held the mark for switch-hitters with 54 home runs in 1961. Raleigh now holds that record, becoming the first switch-hitter to eclipse 60. What's even more impressive was his ability to be so consistent from both sides of the plate. He has hit 38 home runs from the left side of the plate and 22 home runs from the right side.

After passing Mantle, Raleigh next set the Mariners' single-season home run record, surpassing Hall of Famer and Mariners' legend Ken Griffey Jr. He hit 57 home runs in 1997 and again in 1998, but never could reach 60. Raleigh is now the first Mariner to reach 60, meaning Seattle is one of just five teams in the league who can claim to have a 60-homer season.

As Raleigh's 60th blast was his second of Wednesday's game, he also recorded his 11th multi-homer game of the season. This puts him in a tie for yet another single-season record with Judge, Sosa, and Hank Greenberg, and he still has four games to claim the record for himself.

Among the seven players to hit 60 home runs, Raleigh is the best defender, and the only the second with positive defensive value according to FanGraphs. This season, Raleigh's above-average work behind the plate is graded at 16.4. Babe Ruth was worth 5.5 defense above-average in 1927. Every other 60-homer hitter was graded as a below-average defender.

Raleigh has also had one of the most clutch seasons of all time for a power hitter. He leads the league in home runs against winning teams, with 32 bombs against teams above .500. He also leads the league with 31 home runs with runners on base, seven more than the next highest total. His 12 high-leverage home runs are also tied with Pete Alonso for the most in baseball.

MVP or no MVP, Raleigh's season is one for the books. And in case anyone thinks it can't possibly get any better, four games os plenty of time to also break Judge's American League record of 62 home runs, set just three years ago in 2022.