Cal Raleigh: How A Kid from Cullowhee Became a Seattle Sports Legend
From Smoky Mountain High School to AL Platinum Glove Award winner, Cal Raleigh has made a name for himself in the Emerald City.
In the four seasons he’s been with the big league club, Cal Raleigh has made a name for himself. The Big Dumper, as he’s lovingly been coined, has consistently been a powerhouse both behind the plate and in the batter’s box.
Playing the toughest all-around position on the diamond he’s endured countless errant baseballs only aimed for any unprotected part of his body, has thrown out many base thieves, has executed pitch calls tailored for hundreds of major league hitters, and has came through for the Mariners with his bat in high leverage situations time after time. In this article, I’m going to chronicle his beginnings in North Carolina to him winning the Platinum Glove in the MLB.
Rocky Mountains < Smoky Mountains
Cal Raleigh was born on November 26th, 1996 in the town of Cullowhee, North Carolina, which harbors a population of about 8,000 people. As soon as he developed the motor skills to grip a baseball bat, his father Todd started throwing him batting practice, having Cal bat from both sides early on so he could be a switch hitter.
Raleigh attended Smoky Mountain High School (sick name, I know), where he became a star in both basketball and baseball. Cal was an absolute hooper, and I’m being dead serious. His senior year stats were insane, averaging 21 points per game, 2 assists per game, 9.4 rebounds per game, and 2.7 steals per game. This performance had him ranked as the 36th best high school basketball player in North Carolina at the time. Although the image of Big Dumper dunking on people is an awesome one, Raleigh’s athletic abilities were even better on the diamond.
Playing for the varsity team from his sophomore through his senior year, he would slash .387/.475/.655 in 284 career plate appearances, with 92 hits, 61 RBIs, and 13 home runs. For high school athletes who want to play at the collegiate level, senior year is the most important year to produce a solid stat line, and Cal did just that.
During his senior season, Raleigh would post a line of .459/.551/.932 in 89 plate appearances, hitting 10 dingers and stealing 20 bags (clearly a sign of what was to come with his speed). This season alone garnered him many accolades, such as: being named to the 2015 MaxPreps Medium Schools All American team, a Louisville Slugger First-Team All America nod, Western North Carolina Player of the Year, and Western North Carolina Male Athlete of the Year. Additionally, he would get his first taste of playing on a big league field when he appeared in the 2014 Under Armour Game at Wrigley Field.
When it was time to decide on where to go to college, Cal already knew where he wanted to go: Clemson University. This was due to a multiple decade long relationship between the Raleigh family and then head coach Jack Leggett. This relationship began in 1988, when Cal’s father Todd walked on to the Western Carolina University baseball team, which was being coached by Leggett. Todd would develop under Leggett at WCU, and would eventually play at the big league level for the Boston Red Sox. Thus far, I have been unable to find his stats.
"He was a great player for us at Western Carolina, and he's a great person. He's one of the best leaders and captains I've ever had in all my time coaching.”- Jack Leggett on Todd Raleigh
Todd Raleigh quickly reverted back to collegiate level baseball as a coach, becoming an assistant for multiple east coast programs. He became known for his offensive prowess, and helped multiple programs to success. In 2000, he would get a head coaching opportunity at his alma mater, and would lead that program for seven seasons before taking the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee. During this time, Raleigh and Leggett kept a very close relationship, both being head coaches of larger collegiate programs in the south east.
In a case of horrible timing, Jack Leggett was fired from the Clemson coaching job before Cal had the chance to commit. Having to pivot from his obvious number one choice, Cal had his sights set on the University of Virginia and Florida State University. Almost a week after his visit to Tallahassee and meeting with long time baseball head coach Mike Martin, Raleigh would commit to Florida State.
Three Hot and Humid Years in Tallahassee
Playing time was immediate for Raleigh at the D1 level, getting 280 plate appearances in his freshman year. That season he would post a line of .301/.412/.511 with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs. The clutch gene we know him for here in Seattle showed its beginnings in this season when he hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat Georgia Tech. His incredible freshman campaign earned him All American honors from Louisville Slugger, Baseball America, and Perfect Game.
His sophomore year was a bittersweet one. The bitter part was his offensive production taking a noticeable dip, only slashing .227/.330/.398 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs. The sweet part was that Raleigh made a name for himself as an “Iron Man” of sorts, playing in every single game that year which extended his games played streak to 116 with FSU. Once again, just like his clutch gene, Raleigh was already showing signs of the player he would become.
After knocking in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of the ACC championship game vs North Carolina (which FSU would end up winning), it was time to play in the Super Regionals to earn a bid to play in the College World Series. With two more wins needed, Cal battled a 102 degree fever and played the remaining 18 innings of the Super Regional to help FSU reach Omaha. Florida State would lose its first round matchup against LSU, sending them to the loser’s bracket. They would beat Cal State Fullerton, but would be eliminated by LSU in their second contest of the tournament.
Junior year was the biggest breakout year for Raleigh thus far. His offensive production would bounce back to a solid line of .326/.447/.583 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs in 284 plate appearances. This season would be his introduction to former MLB teammate Logan Gilbert, in which FSU played Stetson University twice; Cal homered twice in both games (he did not face Logan). Due to this performance, he would earn an All-ACC and All-American nod. In the ACC Championship tournament won by Florida State, he would receive the MVP award after going 6 for 18 with three doubles, one dinger, and six RBIs in only four games. Florida State would not make it past the Super Regional stage of the College World Series.
Raleigh’s stellar junior year was enough to show that he was ready for the big leagues. Initially, he wasn’t even in the discussion for the Seattle Mariners, but scouts and supporters of Cal “…kept getting voted up to the point where he went from a guy we probably didn't introduce to our discussion until somewhere well into the first week of our national meetings to, ‘Hey, is this guy the best catcher in this draft?’…” remarked by Jerry Dipoto in an article this year by Jordan Shusterman of Cespedes Family BBQ. With the 90th overall pick in the 2018 draft, the Mariners snagged Cal Raleigh off the board, totally unaware of the impact he would make only four years later.
Big League Cal-iber
Cal would get a couple months off from baseball between the end of his collegiate career and beginning of his major league one, which started at the Low-A level playing for the Everett Aquasox. Raleigh would finish the 2018 year at this level, but he performed pretty well with the Aquasox, slashing .288/.368/.534 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 166 plate appearances, equalling a 149 wRC+.
To start his first full year in professional baseball, Raleigh would be sent to Modesto, California to play for the high-A affiliate of the M’s. His offensive production would continue as he would slug 22 home runs and 66 RBI’s, posting a line of .261/.336/.536 in 348 plate appearances with the Nuts. That total line looks great, and it is; but Raleigh actually struggled initially in Modesto.
In April and May, he hit a combined seven home runs, but after hitting coordinator Hugh Quattlebaum and Modesto manager Denny Hocking noticed some tentativeness in his mechanics and timing, they sought out fixing it. The fix was somewhat simple, instead of his hands being cocked back when the pitcher started his delivery, he had his hands set back ready to go. After that change Raleigh hit seven home runs in that month alone.
On July 15th, 2019, Cal Raleigh was promoted from High-A Modesto to Double-A Arkansas. That same day, his former foe turned good friend Logan Gilbert also made the same jump. Raleigh would play in the remaining 39 games of the Double-A season, slashing .228/.296/.414 for a 96 wRC+, with seven home runs and 16 RBIs. A bit of a downgrade from his offensive production in Modesto, but his defense took a step forward with 34 caught steals that year, good for a 30% success rate.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic closed down basically the whole world, and that included the minor leagues. During that year, Raleigh would participate in practices and scrimmages in Tacoma to try to avoid any stunted development.
For the 2021 season, baseball was opened back up in full, and Raleigh was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma. One step away from the show, Raleigh put up fantastic numbers in the Pacific Coast League, hitting for a line of .324/.377/.608 for a 136 wRC+, with nine home runs and 36 RBIs. This performance earned him his call-up to the MLB roster, making his debut on July 11th at T-Mobile Park against the Los Angeles Angels.
From Demotion to “The Pitch from Acevedoooo…”
Raleigh’s first major league hit came on July 20th, 2021 vs the Colorado Rockies, and his first major league home run came three days later against the Oakland A’s. For the remaining 47 games of the season, Cal was the backup to Tom Murphy. When he filled in, he struggled at the plate posting a measly line of .180/.223/.309 for a 46 wRC+. Boasting a staggering strikeout rate of 35%, Raleigh’s future in the league was uncertain heading into the offseason.
After 2022’s Spring Training, Raleigh made the 26-man roster to begin the season, but that did not last long. In only nine games, Cal only hit for a .083 average, with two hits, one of which was a home run. This resulted in Raleigh being optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma on April 28th, and just like his stint at the MLB level to start the season, his time back in Tacoma would be short lived.
On May 7th of 2022, catcher Tom Murphy would hit the 10-day IL due to a dislocated left shoulder, opening up a spot for the North Carolinian. For the first three games back in the show, Raleigh would go hitless with five strikeouts. On May 15th, an absolutely monster two-run home run would be the turning point for both Raleigh’s season and ultimately career, with Mariners television announcer Aaron Goldsmith remarked this moment as “...the absolute line of demarcation in Cal’s career”.
After this home run, Cal was slotted into the full-time catcher’s role ahead of Luis Torrens, and with Tom Murphy’s season being cut short due to the same shoulder dislocation that caused his second call up. In the 102 games Raleigh played after May 15th, he would post a line of .224/.291/.513 with 25 home runs. In total, Raleigh would slug 27 home runs on the year, which led the MLB that year among catchers, and set the Mariners record for home runs by a catcher in a season. Out of all of those home runs, the 26th one stood out the most as it went down in Mariners history forever.
On September 30th, 2022, the Mariners took on the Oakland A’s in T-Mobile Park, needing one win with seven games remaining to break a 21 year long playoff drought. This drought was the longest in North American sports at the time, and Mariner fans were chomping at the bit to break it. Cal did not start this game, as Luis Torrens got the start catching for Logan Gilbert. Going into the ninth inning, the game was tied at one apiece due to a Ty France RBI double and Shea Langeliers solo home run.
Oakland A’s manager Mark Kotsay would turn to right-handed reliever Domingo Acevedo for the bottom of the ninth. With Torrens being a right handed bat, and Cal Raleigh being a switch hitter, Mariners manager Scott Servais put in Raleigh to pinch hit for Torrens that inning, with him due up third. Mitch Haniger strikes out swinging. Carlos Santana strikes out swinging. It’s now 2-outs in the bottom of the ninth, the scenario that every kid who loves baseball has played out in their minds in the backyard before. Raleigh steps up to the plate.
Pitch one: an 86 mph changeup misses down and in the dirt.
Pitch two: another 86 mph changeup missed middle but low.
Pitch three: an 86 mph slider placed inside is fiercely cut through but missed for a strike.
Pitch four: a 92 mph fastball misses in the dirt.
Pitch five: another 85 mph slider, this time placed outside and down, is swung through for a strike.
Pitch six: an 86 mph slider down and in is fouled off down the first base line.
Pitch seven: History is made.
In a 3-2 count with a playoff berth on the line, as announcer Dave Sims utters the now iconic “...the pitch from Acevedo”, the end of the last name fails to leave his mouth as an 85 mph slider is placed at the bottom of the zone, middle-in. Raleigh lunges forward with practically all of his weight on his front foot, drives the ball “...DEEP TO RIGHT FIELD! DOWN THE LINE! THE MARINERS WIN THIS GAME TWO TO ONE! THE DREAM LIVES! THEY'RE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS! THE DROUGHT IS OVER!”.
One hundred and fifty-five days after being demoted back to Triple-A, Cal Raleigh had just broken the longest North American playoff drought with one swing. He was now a legend in Seattle sports. The Big Dumper was here to stay.
“This team is not even close to what we are without him…”- Logan Gilbert
Since the drought-ending homer Cal Raleigh has steadily become the most underrated catcher in the game, breaking records and accomplishing incredible feats.
On May 15th of 2023, the Mariners played their 40th game of the year at Fenway Park. In the fifth inning, Raleigh batting lefty smacked a 92 mph sinker from Tanner Houck deep into the red seats in right field. One inning later, batting as a righty this time, he took a first pitch sinker OVER the Green Monster practically in center field. A 434 ft shot that etched Cal Raleigh into the record books as the first catcher to homer from both sides of the plate in Fenway’s 112 year existence. In 2024, he would repeat this feat twice in the span of three days, once in San Diego and one more time in Anaheim.
Cal’s clutch gene has been present in his game since the beginning. He’s hit three walk-off hits in his career thus far, two of them being momentous home runs. Along with the drought-ender, Raleigh hit a walk-off grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in June of this year. If you’re curious what Raleigh’s most clutch hit of his career was, it was NOT either of the homers just mentioned, at least per Wins Probability Added. If we’re going by that stat, it actually came in 2022 when he hit a ninth inning double off Rangers reliever Brett Martin to score J.P. Crawford to tie the game at four runs each. That hit garnered a WPA of .487, only 19 points higher than his rainmaker.
At this point in his career it should be expected that Raleigh is not going to hit for a high average, he just hits tanks. He has led MLB catchers in home runs the last two seasons, hitting 30+ in both. In late September of this year, he surpassed Mike Piazza for the most home runs hit by a catcher in their first four seasons with 93. Fun fact: nine of those home runs were against the Toronto Blue Jays.
I know I’ve talked mainly about his offense, so let me give some love to his defense. Raleigh has been simply phenomenal behind the plate, leading the league in defensive caught stealings the last two seasons with 43. His framing has continued to improve, going from six Catcher Framing Runs in 2023 to 13 in 2024. Although he was snubbed of the Gold Glove in 2023, he finally got his recognition this year by not only winning the Gold Glove for American League catcher, but won the Platinum Glove award for the American League which is given to the best overall defender in each league.
A Pitcher’s Best Friend
The symbiotic relationship between a pitcher and catcher is the most tight-knit in the game. The catcher is responsible for knowing each pitcher’s repertoire, how it’s used best, and tailoring that to the scouting report on the hitter; and if the pitcher missed his spot, the catcher has the opportunity to steal a strike with good framing.
From early on in his professional career (Modesto to be exact), it was clear that Raleigh was more involved in this relationship than other catchers. An example of this was when Jerry Dipoto went to Modesto to check out the club and noticed Cal, on his off-day, working closely with Logan Gilbert both pre-game and during the game. Both were consistently going over the hitter’s reports along with giving Logan notes in between innings on what to change.
This trend continued through the present day, with Raleigh now helping manage one of the best pitching staffs in the league. In 2024, the Mariners starting rotation led the league in: ERA (3.38), innings pitched (942.2.), and WHIP (1.03); and Raleigh was a big part of that success thanks to his league-leading 1,122 innings caught.
Starting pitcher Bryan Woo had a great 2024 season when he was healthy, but one of the main catalysts for his success was a private one-on-one conversation with Cal early on in the year, where Raleigh emphasized the importance of preparation and dedication. Woo had been dealing with multiple health issues which repeatedly sidelined him during the first half of the season. After this conversation, Woo stayed healthier and delivered some impeccable performances in the second half. It’s stories like this and the one with Gilbert in Modesto that show just how dedicated Cal Raleigh is to the art of catching in all of its different facets.
Extension?
With the large amount of clutch moments and stamina Raleigh has given to the Seattle Mariners organization, many fans are chomping at the bit for him to be given an extension by the club. Raleigh is still under club control through the 2027 season, and by the time he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2028 he will be 31 years old.
As he plays the most physically demanding position on the field there are valid concerns that Cal’s body could have issues by that time, however a lot of that relies on the Mariners organization protecting him better. It is unsustainable to expect Raleigh to catch over 1,100 innings every year, and that wouldn’t be ideal anyways. We’ve seen Cal play through a broken thumb, a torn ligament in his left hand, and a broken tooth which required emergency dental surgery a day before playing a game against a division rival. There is no doubt that he is a warrior.
He’s played through these injuries because the organization has failed to surround Raleigh with suitable backup catchers. In 2023, Tom Murphy was a great backup, but couldn’t stay healthy long enough to really give Raleigh a break, resulting in Luis Torrens and Brian O’Keefe filling in with brief stints. This last season, Seby Zavala started the season as the backup but was putrid at the plate, and designated hitter Mitch Garver only caught one time through the rotation for the second half of the season.
The Mariners organization must do better in protecting Cal Raleigh’s physical health. Until they do, it’s hard to feel great about what he might be in his early 30’s when playing through injuries becomes tougher and potentially impossible. One could make the case that Cal Raleigh is one of the most important players to play in Seattle in the last decade, and I hope he can continue to be that important figure for the next decade. I have no worry that Cal Raleigh has the drive to make that reality happen, I can’t say the same for the organization.
-JT