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Good morning! Make the knockout round today.
Hi, My Name Is: The best-hitting catcher ever?
Time is the universe’s most powerful force. Time never stops. Time heals wounds. Time is constant, no matter the events of a day, month, year or millennia.
Wait, sorry. That was a little existential. What I really mean is that time zones are also an immovable force, particularly in the sports world, where it doesn’t matter how many forms of media we have to consume — if a certain player plays while half of the country is asleep, he or she is bound to be undercovered. Or even, to an extent, unknown.
That’s Cal Raleigh. He has every trait of a beloved baseball superstar: historic stats, fun highlights and, most importantly, an elite nickname. Three things to know about Big Dumper:
Yes, the stats. Raleigh hit his 32nd home run last night, which puts him on pace for 67 dingers this year. That’s impressive on its own, but it’s astounding coming from an everyday catcher like Raleigh, who’s also a great defender behind the plate. Any fantasy owner will tell you how hard it is to find an elite offensive catcher. Raleigh, 28, is the best one in baseball right now. Did I mention he’s a switch hitter, too?
… and he’s on track to post the best offensive season for a catcher in history, at least by certain metrics. Raleigh already has the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, surpassing Johnny Bench’s 28. He’s on pace for about 10.7 fWAR, which would blow by Buster Posey’s record 9.8. Yowza. See more of those stats here.
The nickname? The origin of Big Dumper is just as juvenile as you hoped. Former Mariners teammate Jarred Kelenic coined the nickname when the two played in the minor leagues together and tweeted it out when Raleigh got promoted to the majors. It took off, and now kids are wearing custom jerseys with “Big Dumper” on the back.
Let’s go back to the home runs for a second, too, because his pace is more than remarkable. In the famous 1998 home run race, Mark McGwire entered the All-Star break with 37 homers, with Ken Griffey Jr. (35) and Sammy Sosa (33) close behind. Raleigh has 32 right now with 19 games left before the break.
All hail Big Dumper. If you’re not on the West Coast, maybe stay up and catch a Mariners game.
P.S. The best part? The Mariners bought out Raleigh’s arbitration years with a six-year, $105 million deal in March that both pays Raleigh more than he would’ve gotten under the current system and already appears to be a steal.
News to Know
Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
Celtics trade Holiday
Boston agreed to send guard Jrue Holiday to Portland late last night, sources confirmed to The Athletic, in exchange for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks. It’s the first step in what could be an unpredictable Celtics offseason, with Jayson Tatum out for the foreseeable future. Holiday was briefly a Trail Blazer two years ago when the Bucks sent him to Portland, who then shipped him to Boston, in the Damian Lillard blockbuster trade. See our full breakdown here.
Messi, Inter advance
With a 2-2 draw last night, both Inter Miami and Palmeiras have advanced out of Group A at the Club World Cup. No matter where Lionel Messi and Inter end up, it’s a great look for an MLS team to make the final 16 of a competition such as this. Inter was up 2-0 in this game, too. Read about it here.
More news
Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter signed his $46 million rookie contract, with $30 million of that in the form of a signing bonus. More details here.
Anaheim finally dealt Trevor Zegras, a walking trade rumor, to Philadelphia yesterday. He’ll be part of a Flyers rebuild.
Maria Taylor will be NBC’s lead host for NBA and WNBA coverage, The Athletic reported yesterday.
The Knicks could have a new coaching target: Pelicans assistant James Borrego. James L. Edwards III has more in his report.
Jets owner Woody Johnson agreed to purchase a 43 percent stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace. I wonder if Brick Johnson plays “EA Sports FC.”
A verdict is expected in the Wander Franco sexual abuse trial on Thursday. Full report here.
Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. is suing Big League Advance Fund, which fronts young players money in exchange for a percentage of earnings later, for exploitative business practices.
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What to Watch
📺 CWC: Benfica vs. Bayern Munich
3 p.m. ET on TNT/DAZN
Here’s our best Club World Cup game of the day, and Munich is a slight favorite over its Portuguese opponent. Plenty is at stake for Benfica, as a loss would likely place them in a tie with Boca Juniors to advance out of group play, which will be decided by goal differential. Bayern is already through to the knockout rounds. See all the permutations here.
📺 WNBA: Fever at Storm
10 p.m. ET on NBA TV
Forgive me if this sounds familiar, because we mistakenly ran it yesterday: Outside of the Caitlin Clark of it all, these two teams figure to fight for playoff seeding in the crowded WNBA standings. Seattle has had a nice season and even upset the reigning-champion Liberty on Sunday. Good game.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
Artificial intelligence has made its way to the NFL in full force. The Raiders even have an AI guy. Josh Kendall has an intriguing (scary?) look at how AI agents, which he calls Bill Walsh 3000, could change the way coaches operate. Read it here.
For as glorious as the Thunder’s title was, I’m still just thinking about Tyrese Haliburton crying on the Paycom Center floor. I urge you to read this story to get the full picture on what is already a history-altering moment in the NBA.
It’s truly draft season. Let’s start with the NHL edition here, as Scott Wheeler made his final predictions for the first two rounds this morning. Draft starts Friday.
The PWHL Draft, in turn, is today. We have a full guide here.
Our collectibles staff was on hand in New York for Fanatics Fest, which looked cool and overwhelming to me. They rounded up the best things they saw.
One thing I’ve been monitoring thanks to this story: The heat at the Club World Cup has been overwhelming for some teams. Teams are suffering. Brazilian clubs are the only ones thriving thus far.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: NFL practice observations. Football remains king.
Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️
(Top photo: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)