{"id":671679,"date":"2026-04-09T14:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671679\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:27:23","slug":"cal-raleighs-terrible-start-to-the-mariners-season-is-deeper-than-a-lack-of-home-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671679\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal Raleigh’s terrible start to the Mariners season is deeper than a lack of home runs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bullet point summary by AI<\/p>\n

The Seattle Mariners are confronting a troubling regression from star catcher Cal Raleigh just weeks into the new season.Last season’s breakout star is battling intense pressure and a sharp performance decline that goes beyond early-season stats.The situation raises serious concerns for the Mariners’ long-term plans with Raleigh under contract through 2030.<\/p>\n

As he chased the American League single-season home run record last year, even the most in-touch baseball fans were excused if they wondered, \u201cWho is Cal Raleigh?\u201d<\/p>\n

Great question, and it wasn\u2019t just, \u201cHe\u2019s the Mariners\u2019 starting catcher.\u201d He was a fiery slugger emerging as the newest face of a Seattle team finally working its way back into the national consciousness.<\/p>\n

Only weeks into the new season, we\u2019re again asking, \u201cWho is Cal Raleigh?\u201d Except this time, the Mariners<\/a> might not like the answer.<\/p>\n

Cal Raleigh\u2019s 2026 season is a nightmare thus far<\/p>\n

Even if you expected Raleigh to regress after last year\u2019s 60-homer season<\/a>, what we\u2019ve seen through 13 games is disturbing. The reigning AL MVP runner-up has started the season hitting .143 with a .481 OPS.<\/p>\n

Raleigh\u2019s one homer through 13 games isn\u2019t the problem, not unless you have a direct stake in his final numbers.<\/p>\n

\"Seattle<\/p>\n

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Instead, as we saw during his World Baseball Classic spat with teammate Randy Arozarena<\/a>, it feels like Raleigh can\u2019t handle the pressure.<\/p>\n

There is a misconception that \u201cpressure\u201d really only applies when players are in a clutch situation or the expectations are incredibly high.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the expectations simply being elevated are too much. Raleigh might not be a household name like Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani, but far more people outside of the Pacific Northwest know him now.<\/p>\n

First, we saw him publicly clash with Arozarena<\/a> over a perceived snub at the WBC. Things became so uncomfortable following Arozarena\u2019s profanity-laced rant that the two needed to issue a statement through the team.<\/p>\n

So much for silencing the critics. Raleigh has struck out in nearly 40% of his plate appearances, no small feat considering he\u2019s been up to bat 55 times.<\/p>\n

It gets worse. Baseball Savant<\/a> lists his \u201cwhiff rate\u201d at 39.7%, meaning that we can\u2019t exactly pin his strikeouts on bad luck or wide strike zones.<\/p>\n

Should we be worried about Cal Raleigh?\"Seattle<\/p>\n

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem with Raleigh: All of these struggles and issues are far deeper than just a simple, early-season slump.<\/p>\n

While recently discussing Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki<\/a>, I argued that fixing low self-esteem or confidence is immensely difficult. It is not as easy as tweaking mechanics or adjusting a batting stance.<\/p>\n

Through his first three seasons, Raleigh made a name for himself as a noted power threat, one capable of giving the Mariners home runs and an above-average OPS. No one saw last year\u2019s breakout coming.<\/p>\n

But between the Arozarena incident<\/a> and his dismal performance, Raleigh is in a far worse position than one might think.<\/p>\n

It would be one thing if Raleigh were on pace to be a one-year wonder, at least in terms of such a massive home run output. He averaged 4.0 bWAR from 2022\u201324, and every team would take that from their starting catcher.<\/p>\n

But what happens if all of this is too much for Raleigh? He\u2019s under contract through 2030, with a $20 million vesting option for 2031. The thought of being stuck with a player overwhelmed by increased eyes on him should terrify the Mariners.<\/p>\n

So, who is Cal Raleigh? He\u2019s certainly not someone inspiring much hope, that much is for sure.<\/p>\n

More MLB news and analysis:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bullet point summary by AI The Seattle Mariners are confronting a troubling regression from star catcher Cal Raleigh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2392],"tags":[5,620,4,619,65,3235],"class_list":{"0":"post-671679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-mariners","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mariners","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-seattle","12":"tag-seattle-mariners","13":"tag-seattlemariners"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116375221357907103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}