MLB insider breaks down Cal Raleigh’s advantage over Aaron Judge in 2025 AL MVP race

As the 2025 season has carried on, two players have emerged as the most likely contenders to take home the 2025 American League MVP award: Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge.

For Judge, this is not the first time he's vying for the award—he's already won it twice. For Raleigh, though, this is uncharted territory, with the catcher enjoying by far the best hitting season of his career.

Though it is still tough to call who will end up taking home the award in November, according to insider Joel Sherman on Tuesday's episode of "Pinstripe Post, the additional defensive capabilities of Cal Raleigh, being a catcher, give him an edge over Aaron Judge.

"What Cal Raleigh is doing is almost MVP worthy, even over Aaron Judge," Sherman said. "Because what we're asking catchers to do in 2025 is so much greater than what Johnny Bench had to do, even what Buster Posey had to do and what Pudge Rodriguez had to do.

"The amount of information retention that these guys have to have today, and the stuff they're dealing with, the velo and the movement, at a greater level than ever. The burden is so great on these guys."

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Alongside performing his duties as a catcher, Cal Raleigh has also hit more home runs than Aaron Judge

One of the finest catchers in the game, Cal Raleigh is adept at performing his duties behind the plate, be it calling the right pitch or throwing out runners trying to steal bases.

In addition to performing those duties extremely well, Raleigh has been effective with the bat this season. At the moment, Raleigh leads the major leagues with 33 home runs, three more than Aaron Judge, who is second on the charts with 30 blasts.

Cal Raleigh celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals - Source: Getty

As the mid-season break approaches, this brings Raleigh the exciting proposition of being almost guaranteed to earn his first-ever All-Star selection.

As the Mariners look to make it to the postseason for only the third time since 2000, fans will be hoping their catcher can continue to swing a hot bat in the second half of the year, resulting in success on both individual and collective fronts.