Despite Aaron Judge’s dominance, ex-Mariners All-Star sees Cal Raleigh's path to become 2025 AL MVP

Seattle Mariners backstop Cal Raleigh is off to a fantastic start for the new season. The catcher's scintillating form has caught the eye of pundits and analysts and has garnered Raleigh a ticket to the early MVP predictions. Amidst the dominance of Yankee captain Aaron Judge, ex-Mariner All-Star Harold Reynolds expressed his faith on Raleigh and shared a path for him to win the 2025 AL MVP trophy.

Reynolds stated that Seattle consider load management when it comes to Raleigh's usage. In 2024, the Gold Glover played a total of 153 games — 135 of which, as a catcher.

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"Can he continue to have an MVP-type season? Absolutely. But the [Mariners] are going to have to manage him properly," said Reynolds. (1:00-1:07)

The ex-Mariner-turned-MLB analyst also shared that the team couldn't afford to strain Raleigh's physical well-being by starting him in meaningless games.

"You can't just throw him out there in a day game in Chicago. When they have a travel day, he should have a day off." (1:08-1:15)

"If [Cal Raleigh hits his on pace mark at 54 home runs and 112 RBI], he wins the MVP...If Aaron Judge just hits at .320-.330, and Raleigh hits his projections, [the latter] wins the [award]. There's too much value in the catcher. The wear-and-tear of the position, and especially the demands of today's [game]." (2:00-2:28)

At the moment, Cal Raleigh is tied with Aaron Judge for the most home runs in the American League with 16. The Silver Slugger-winning catcher is also batting .249/.370/.584 with an OPS of .954. Per MLB Network's estimate, Raleigh is on pace to smash 54 home runs and 112 RBIs for a postseason-contending Seattle squad.

It would be interesting to see how Seattle's coaching staff will use Raleigh moving forward. If and when the backstop accomplish the gargantuan task of claiming the MVP Award, he would be the first player from the organization since Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 to be bestowed such an honor.

Mariners avoid horror in Southside

After a narrow 1-0 defeat to the White Sox two days ago, the Mariners bounced back in the series-closer to take the three-game set in Chicago's Southside. The nip-and-tuck battle was won by Seattle, 6-5, courtesy of Leody Taveras' go-ahead two-run shot in the eighth inning.

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Seattle would now host AL West adversaries in the form of the Astros as the two teams jostle for position in the division. The former's 28-20 record would be put to the test as the Astros look to improve on their 25-24 record that features just ten wins in 25 games on the road.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago