Just two years ago, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider uttered a now-infamous quote about Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

Raleigh had just blasted two home runs during a comeback, extra-innings win in Toronto in April 2023, and Schneider wasn’t all that complimentary when speaking about the future MLB single-season home run record holder for catcher and switch-hitters.

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“He’s hitting .200,” Schneider said at the time. “I know he’s done damage against us. … He’s obviously got big damage potential and he’s got a lot of strikeout potential, too, and when you execute your pitches, you usually get the job done.”

After Raleigh continued his torture of the Blue Jays at their home stadium with a solo home run that turned the tide of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday, Schneider’s tune had change about the 2025 AL MVP candidate.

“I think every time he comes to the plate I’m considering it, to be honest with you,” Schneider said when asked if he considered walking Raleigh before the home run. “… Great hitters and hitters in general, I think they capitalize on mistakes, and that split from (Kevin Gausman) kind of just leaked back over the middle a little bit.”

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In Game 2 on Monday, Schneider got his chance to avoid pitching to Raleigh in a high-leverage spot, intentionally walking the slugger with a runner on second base and no outs in the fifth inning of a 3-3 game. Two batters later, Jorge Polanco made the Blue Jays pay for that decision with a go-ahead, three-run home run that put Seattle in the lead for good on its way to 10-3 victory and 2-0 series lead.

Another clutch Polanco HR helps M’s go up 2-0 on Blue Jays in ALCS

It wasn’t the only time walking Raleigh came back to bite Toronto in Game 2, either. In his first at-bat, Raleigh worked a walked and Julio Rodríguez followed with a three-run home run that put the Mariners on the board before their first out of the game.

That’s the problem Schneider now faces against the Mariners that he didn’t have to deal with as recently as their matchups earlier this year. If he chooses to pitch around Raleigh, who’s hit 12 home runs in 28 career games against Toronto including the playoffs, he’s playing with fire by putting a runner on base for the batters that follow.

The big difference between the 2025 Mariners playoff lineup and previous Mariners lineups seen by Schneider, who took over as Toronto’s manager midway through 2022, is it’s just a much deeper unit than its been in recent years.

There are no consistently easy outs in this lineup, a stark difference from Mariners teams of the past. And the way the M’s have stacked their order behind their switch-hitting catcher makes it hard to pitch around him.

It starts with Rodríguez hitting directly behind Raleigh. The center fielder had previously batted in front of his All-Star teammate before manager Dan Wilson moved Raleigh to second in the order and Rodríguez to third earlier this year, a move that didn’t come until after the M’s and Blue Jays played their final regular season series against each other in May.

Behind Rodríguez is Polanco, the author of many of the biggest hits for Seattle in the postseason so far. The red-hot second baseman tied Ken Griffey Jr.’s franchise record with his fourth go-ahead plate appearance in a single postseason, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. He may just be the batter nobody wants to face in this Mariners lineup right now.

Then it’s Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez, Seattle’s two big offensive additions at this year’s trade deadline. Naylor also homered Monday, adding to a combined 6-for-13 performance with three home runs for the three batters (Rodríguez, Polanco, Naylor) directly behind Raleigh in the lineup. Suárez has had a rough postseason, but he’s always a home run threat and a hot streak away from being a game-changing bat.

In total, the four batters hitting behind Raleigh hit a combined 127 home runs during the regular season, giving Schneider a seemingly impossible task of choosing if he should pitch to a Blue Jays killer or risk further damage against one of the most formidable middle of the orders in the league this year with a runner on base.

It’s a challenge he hasn’t been able to solve so far, and one he may have only two more games to figure out.

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