Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh is best righty bat in baseball

Cal Raleigh will be one of the biggest stories during this week’s MLB All-Star festivities, as the Seattle Mariners catcher is enjoying a gigantic breakout season.

You know the general reasons for that.

Mariners’ Cal Raleigh will hit cleanup for AL in All-Star Game

He leads baseball in home runs with 38, setting multiple records for the first half of a season along the way including most homers by a catcher and most homers by a switch-hitter. He came just one homer short of Barry Bonds’ record of 39 homers in a season before the All-Star Game. And he’s got the unforgettable nickname of “Big Dumper” that will no doubt get plenty of mentions whether it’s Monday’s Home Run Derby broadcast or Tuesday’s All-Star Game itself.

What may not garner much attention is perhaps the biggest reason for Raleigh’s breakout in 2025. He’s always been a big threat at the plate from the left side against right-handed pitching, but his righty swing against southpaw pitchers used to be seen as a bit of a hole in his game.

Not anymore. And not by a longshot.

Raleigh isn’t just enjoying his best season as a right-hander. He’s absolutely crushing left-handed pitchers, and in fact has essentially been the best hitter in all of baseball when swinging from the right side. Just ask the Detroit Tigers, who watched him hit homers off lefties in back-to-back at-bats Friday to drive in five runs combined in the final two innings of a 12-3 Mariners win.

Marvel at these numbers Raleigh has produced with his right-handed swing.

• As a right-handed hitter against left-handed pitchers this season, Raleigh owns a .333/.382/.853 slash line for a 1.235 OPS in 104 plate appearances. The .333 batting average is third among all right-handed hitters in MLB and tied for 14th against lefty pitching. Not bad for a guy whose career-high average for an entire season (against all pitching) is .232.

• Raleigh’s 1.235 OPS from the right side is the highest of any MLB right-handed hitter this season – yes, even better than Yankees superstar and American League MVP favorite Aaron Judge (1.195). Those numbers include all of Judge’s plate appearances, though, factoring in both righty and lefty pitchers since he’s not a switch-hitter. When you focus on just plate appearances against lefties, Raleigh is second in OPS to Judge (1.355).

• The main area where Raleigh has the advantage over Judge against lefties is – surprise! – home runs. Of Raleigh’s 38 homers, an MLB-leading 16 have come against southpaws. Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber is second with 14 (out of 30 total), while Judge is third with 11 (out of 35).

• Because of the sheer amount of damage Raleigh has done against lefties, he also beats Judge for the highest Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) against left-handers. That’s a great metric for measuring how much a hitter is producing runs, and Raleigh is No. 1 against lefties at 244, while Judge is second at 240. For wRC+, league average is 100, so Raleigh is essentially 144% more productive against left-handed pitchers than a league-average hitter. That’s… pretty good.

• What really jumps out is Raleigh was a below-average bat against lefties for his first four MLB seasons. From 2021 through 2024, Raleigh had a combined slash line of .202/.271/.410 for a .681 OPS and 95 wRC+ swinging right-handed. He had 20 homers in 413 plate appearances against left-handers, and 13 of those came in 2024. Now compare that to 2025, where Raleigh has 16 homers in just 104 plate appearances against lefties. It’s an insane turnaround.

Now, Raleigh’s been strong with his lefty swing against right-handed pitchers in 2025, but he hasn’t taken the same kind of leap on that side of the plate. Against righties this season, he has a .229/.375/.53 slash line for a .918 OPS with 22 homers in 297 plate appearances. His 143 wRC+ against righties ranks 16th in MLB.

Point being, Cal Raleigh may be known for his left-handed bombs in a Mariners uniform, but his incredible 2025 season has more to do with him becoming a right-handed monster than anything else. Here’s hoping he gets a shot to feature it by facing a southpaw in Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic.

Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh is best righty bat in baseball

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