The Seattle Mariners had the best postseason run in franchise history in 2025. The Mariners made it to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series before ultimately losing 4-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the first time the Mariners have been one win away from the World Series.

It was the first ALCS berth for Seattle since 2001 and Seattle won the American League West title for the first time since '01, as well.

For the entirety of the 2025 season, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was front and center.

Raleigh set the single-season MLB record for most home runs by a catcher and switch-hitter (60), passing the previous marks held by Salvador Perez and Mickey Mantle, respectively. He added several awards to his trophy case, including a Home Run Derby championship, a Silver Slugger award and could become the third American League MVP in Seattle history.

Here's an overview of Raleigh's season:

Cal Raleigh by the numbers

Games played: 159

Hitting stats: .247 BA, 60 HRs, 125 RBIs, 110 Runs, 24 Doubles, 97 BB, 188 SOs, .359 OBP, .589 SLG, .949 OPS

Defensive stats: 1,106 TC, four errors, .996 Fielding, 21 CS

What I liked

There's not much to dislike about a historical season.

Before the first game of the year, Raleigh agreed to a six-year, $105 million contract that extends through 2030 with a mutual option for 2031.

Raleigh proved it was a worthwhile investment for Seattle. In addition to his 60 home runs, his RBIs (125), games played (159) and runs (110) were all single-season career-highs.

He had 147 hits and 84 were extra-base hits. It was more likely for him to hit an extra-base hit than a single.

Raleigh became the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby in MLB history and his All-Star selection and Silver Slugger awards were both the first of his career.

Raleigh became the face of the Mariners and was catapulted into national stardom with his season, which has been a rarity for the franchise since the days of Ichiro Suzuki.

Best moments

Raleigh had 38 home runs — 11 away from breaking the previous record by a catcher set by Salvador Perez in 2021 — at the All-Star Break. It seemed inevitable Raleigh would set a new record.

Raleigh tied and broke Perez's mark in a game against the Athletics on Aug. 24, in front of his home crowd at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

In a game against the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 17, Raleigh broke Mantle's single-season switch-hitter home run record with his 55th bomb of the year. He tied Ken Griffey Jr. for the most home runs in a single season in franchise history (56) in the same game.

Raleigh broke Griffey's record in a game against the Houston Astros on Sept. 20.

Future prospects

As mentioned before, Raleigh is under contract through 2030, possibly 2031.

He will continue to be one of the faces of the franchise for the duration of the contract as the team's starting catcher.

It's likely Raleigh will regress in 2026. It's an incredibly rare feat to hit 60 home runs in a single season. It's more rare to do that in consecutive seasons. Only Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire have done it, both in 1998 and 1999, respectively.

With that being said, Raleigh has been one of the best two-way players in baseball for multiple seasons and that's likely to continue.

On top of his offense, Raleigh's steadiness behind the plate is also a huge plus for the pitching staff. Four of the team's five starters missed time this year with injuries, and Raleigh helped the pitching staff weather that storm. He didn't allow a passed ball during the regular season.

Final grade: A+

Aside from few nitpicked details, there's not much more Raleigh could have done in 2025.

His defense regressed from its Platinum Glove-level in 2024, but it was still solid, especially with all the injuries on the pitching staff.

Raleigh's .247 average wasn't amazing, but it was higher than last season and he will adjust to how other pitchers will throw to him in 2026. He had several slow stretches during the season, but always brought himself out of it and was one of the team's best hitters in the postseason (two doubles, five home runs, eight RBIs in 12 games; .304/.407/.674 slash line).

Raleigh elevated himself to one of the best catchers in the majors to one of the faces of baseball this year and he could still cap it off with an MVP award, which will be announced Nov. 13.

If a potential MVP season isn't deserving of an A+, nothing is.

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