Raleigh has been in a slump since coming back from an injury concern earlier this week.
Since coming back from "right side discomfort" earlier this week, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has been in a major slump.
But really, his slump extends beyond that.
The M's catcher, who finished second in the American League MVP voting a season ago after hitting 60 home runs, is 0-for-his last-29 with 13 strikeouts. His .580 OPS is the seventh-lowest in the American League among qualified hitters.
While he does have seven home runs, he's struggled to make consistent contact from either side of the plate.
Let's dig a little deeper on the issues plaguing Raleigh.
What are the biggest issues for him?
1) His timing has been off most of the season. Without making excuses for him, it's possible that he got off to a slow start because of the scattered playing time provided by the World Baseball Classic, and it's possible that he's been impacted by the injury right now. There was a stretch between the two where he looked like he was getting comfortable at the plate, but by and large, he's struggled to catch up to fastballs most of the year.
2) His pitch recognition has been off. He's been unable to lay off the fastball at the top of the zone, and he's been very susceptible to changeups and breaking balls. He's been consistently out front of those pitches, and his willingness to leave the strike zone has led to him getting himself out quite a bit.
As noted by Baseball Savant, his chase rate is in the 17th percentile.
3) One of the things that made Raleigh so successful in 2025 was his ability to hit right-handed. He hit .281 from the right side. This year? .140.
What can the Mariners do?
The Mariners are going to have to continue to ply Raleigh, obviously. He's too important to the team to sit on any kind of regular basis, but it's getting to the point where the Mariners need to consider moving him down in the order.
If manager Dan Wilson wants to do that, there are ample things that he can do with the lineup.
Brendan Donovan can hit leadoff, with Julio Rodriguez second and then Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena can hit 3-4, perhaps sending Raleigh to fifth.
If Wilson wants to get Raleigh even lower in the order, JP Crawford could continue to lead off and Donovan could be switched to second or fifth with Raleigh sixth.
The Mariners play the White Sox again on Sunday afternoon at 11:10 a.m. PT.
Seattle is 19-21 on the campaign.
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