Scuffling 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh comes off the bench to help Mariners beat Yankees

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SEATTLE (AP) — While slugger Aaron Judge took batting practice at T-Mobile Park, an advertisement featuring him and Cal Raleigh flashed on the videoboard with a link to buy tickets to the series between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

The reigning AL MVP was in the No. 2 hole for the Yankees on Monday night, but Raleigh, runner-up for that award last year after hitting 60 homers — the most in a season by a catcher — was not in the Mariners' starting lineup for the opener.

That didn't stop Raleigh, who started the season 2 for 15 with 10 strikeouts, from playing the hero. He came off the bench in the seventh inning and hit a walk-off single just inside first base in the ninth that gave Seattle a 2-1 victory.

“I was just looking for something hard over the heart of the plate," Raleigh said. "It cut in on my hands a little bit, but I was able to keep it fair.”

Before the game, manager Dan Wilson said he sat Raleigh, who appeared in three World Baseball Classic games for the United States, to get him some rest four games into the season.

“Coming out of spring training, he had sort of a shorter spring training in a lot of ways,” Wilson said. “And, didn’t want to spike his workload too much.”

Last season, Raleigh appeared in a career-high 159 games for the Mariners and racked up 705 plate appearances, as well as an American League-best 125 RBIs. Ahead of arriving in Seattle, Judge told The Associated Press he was particularly impressed by Raleigh’s work ethic while they were teammates at the WBC.

“Greatness leaves a trail,” Judge said. “Just how he controls himself, how he controls that pitching staff, he’s going to have another great year, that’s for sure.”

As much as Raleigh excelled last season, it took a bit for the 29-year-old to hit his stride last year, too. It wasn’t until his 10th game of the season in 2025 that Raleigh’s average climbed above .200, and it took until mid-April for the powerful catcher to start hitting home runs at a prodigious clip.

It's in part why the even-keeled Raleigh isn't particularly worried about his own performance, or that of similarly struggling teammates like Josh Naylor (0 for 19) or Julio Rodríguez (1 for 19).

“It’ll be OK. I know a lot of people in that locker room, a lot of guys across the league are fighting the same thing," Raleigh said. "They’re trying to find timing. And, it’s under a microscope more so now than it is in the middle of a season just because it’s the start of the season, everybody’s excited.”

While Raleigh drew ample headlines for his hitting prowess in 2025, what separates him according to Guardians manager Stephen Vogt is that he’s a multi-dimensional talent, not just a hitter.

Vogt, who was a major league catcher for 10 years, said he thinks Raleigh is clearly the best two-way catcher in the game, but expectations should be tempered a bit in light of what he accomplished last year.

“For him to hit 60 homers again is unrealistic,” Vogt said. “I think if anybody’s expectation is 50-plus homers for anyone, it’s just not realistic. But, I think Cal’s still a great offensive player, and I think he’s going to have another great year.”

It may be unrealistic for Raleigh to again match Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, who also hit 60 home runs in 1927, a single-season record that stood for 34 years. But, Raleigh has hit at least 30 home runs each of the last three seasons, and the Mariners hope to receive that kind of production from the All-Star catcher again in 2026.

Wilson said last season, the Mariners consistently monitored Raleigh’s workload to see if his production would ever dip. But it never did, and it wasn’t until the 35th game of the season that Raleigh did not start either at catcher or designated hitter.

This season, Wilson evidently took a more proactive approach — and reaped the rewards quite quickly.

“We’re trying to assess this as we go and make sure that we don’t put him in a tough spot,” Wilson said. “I think he’s a hard guy to get out of the lineup because he wants to be in there so badly. But, I think it just felt like today was a good day to get him some rest.”

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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb