How Mariners star Cal Raleigh became MLB's perfect slugging machine

Cal Raleigh is baseball's newest superstar. It felt like the Seattle Mariners catcher was breaking out in April, but he's really broken out over the past two weeks. After hitting nine home runs in an 11-game stretch, Raleigh took over the MLB lead with 26 home runs before reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge finally caught up on Friday.

How is he doing it? Raleigh has always been a solid player. In his first four seasons, he had a .740 OPS and had hit 93 home runs. But something seems to have changed in 2025, with Raleigh putting up a .993 OPS, the third-best in baseball. Has something clicked in his approach?

Cal Raleigh dishes on how he has become the top slugger in MLB

Raleigh recently spoke with Buster Olney on the Baseball Tonight podcast about what he feels is allowing him to thrive at the plate this season, and it's ultimately simple.

"To me, it was just all about getting on time," he said. "I gotta be on time, ready to hit, every single pitch."

Getting the timing down has certainly helped the "Big Dumper," and it is allowing him to add more plate discipline to his skillset. He is swinging at just 29.4 percent of pitches out of the zone. In his rookie season, he swung at 43.3 percent of such pitches, and his career average is 32.2 percent.

Raleigh's contact percentage is also up to a career 73.0. His 13.5 swinging-strike percentage has reached a career low. The numbers tell the story here: Raleigh is swinging at less bad pitches, whiffing less and making contact more. That's helping him keep his batting average at a career high .262 mark, and his OBP at a career-best .372.

There's one other thing Raleigh has been elite at this season, which is helping him crank so many home runs. Raleigh is pulling the ball more than any other hitter this season. In fact, his 38.2 pull air percentage ranks first by a wide margin, according to Statcast. For reference, Statcast states that from 2022-2024, pulled airballs represented 66 percent of all home runs.

Combine more contact, less strikeouts and the best pull hitter in the league, and what do you get? You get the season Raleigh is having right now. He's on track to start in the All-Star game, and pacing for over 8 bWAR. He has started all but two of the Mariners games in 2025. He is effectively putting the team on his back, and doing his best to carry them into playoff contention.