The greatest catcher of all time! I thought Ohtani was the only one who hit two home runs, but on the same day, the 2021 cannon exploded and the first car chase continued

Jun 01, 2025

The greatest catcher of all time! I thought Ohtani was the only one who hit two home runs, but on the same day, the 2021 cannon exploded and the first car chase continued
Seattle Mariners catcher Karl Raleigh hits a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning against the Washington Nationals on the 28th (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News



The greatest catcher of all time! I thought Ohtani was the only one who hit two home runs, but on the same day, the 2021 cannon exploded and the first car chase continued
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run to left-center in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees on the 31st (Korea time). AP Yonhap News
Scary home run hitters appeared in the Major League this season. He is a powerful catcher who threatens LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees Aaron Judge, last year's MVP.

The main character is Caroli, a Seattle Mariners switch heater.

Raleigh, who joined after being drafted by Seattle with the 90th overall pick in the third round of the 2018 draft, made his major league debut in 2021 and took over as a starting player the following year. In his second year in 2022, he hit 27 home runs in 119 games, showing off his powerful batting.




And he hit 30 and 34 home runs in 2023 and last year, respectively, reaching the 30-home run mark for the second consecutive year. In particular, he won the Gold Glove last season and established himself as a catcher with both offense and defense. However, the pace is so scary from the beginning of the season that he participated in the home run king competition this season.

Raleigh started as the fourth catcher in the home game against the Minnesota Twins at T-Mobile Park on the 31st (Korea time) and hit five RBIs with two home runs. The team lost 6-12 at the end of extra time, but Raleigh led the AL home run alone.

In the bottom of the first inning, Raleigh pulled the cutter in the middle of the first 92.5 miles of right-hander Jebi Matthews' first pitch, and hit a three-run shot that went well over the inside of the right foul pole, and in the eighth inning with two outs and a lead of 4-3, he pulled right-hander Cole Sands' fastball in the middle of the first pitch of 94.8 miles and connected it to a two-run shot that went well over the inside of the right foul pole. The home run was a large arch with a batting speed of 113.2 miles and a driving distance of 380 feet.




The greatest catcher of all time! I thought Ohtani was the only one who hit two home runs, but on the same day, the 2021 cannon exploded and the first car chase continued
Seattle Mariners Carl Raleigh poses with a trident, a home run celebration tool, after hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins on the 31st (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News
Raleigh was the first catcher in Major League history to hit 20 home runs before the end of May. Raleigh is also the third Seattle player to break the 20-homer mark of the season before May, following Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.

In particular, Raleigh can hit 58 home runs this season as a catcher if he maintains his current pace, and he is expected to surpass Kansas City Royals Salvarod Perez's 48 home runs in 2021, the most in a season for a catcher.

Ohtani is currently the leader in home runs in both leagues. In the first game of the three consecutive home games against the Yankees at Dodger Stadium on the same day, he hit two home runs for the 21st and 22nd time this season, ranking first alone in this category.




Ohtani hit a solo home run in the middle of the first inning and a solo home run in the left-center of the sixth inning, and it turned out that Raleigh hit his 20th and 21st home runs of the season in a row in Seattle at the same time. It's a creepy chase.

Raleigh was stronger in the left at-bats than in the right at-bats with a switch heater. In 2023, he hit .218 with four home runs in right at-bats and 26 home runs in left at-bats with a batting average of 0.235 and a batting average of 0.235 in left at-bats. Last year, he hit .183 with 13 home runs in right at-bats and .234 with 21 home runs in left at-bats, respectively. At the time, Seattle manager Scott Servais entrusted Raleigh with a starting mask if the opponent started the right pitcher, but if the left pitcher was the starting pitcher, he used Tom Murphy or Luis Torrens as the starting catcher. However, last year, he started 125 games as a catcher, so his situation was much better. Other than that, he started 18 games as a designated hitter.

In order to continue using Raleigh's long-range power, the best way is to put him as a designated hitter, not a catcher. Raleigh, who played in 55 of the team's 56 games so far this season, started 44 games as a catcher and 11 games as a designated hitter, respectively. There are no days off now.

The greatest catcher of all time! I thought Ohtani was the only one who hit two home runs, but on the same day, the 2021 cannon exploded and the first car chase continued
Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh has a much higher batting average at right-handed this season. AFP Yonhap News
In a recent interview with local media outlet The Seattle Times, Raleigh said there was a big change in the offseason after the 2023 season. As a right-handed hitter, I hit much better. Obviously, he was a good hitter in left at-bats, so he needed to improve in right at-bats. That's why we've increased our batting training and recovery in the right-handed."

He then said "It seems to have started to take effect in the second half of last year. So I continued my right-handed training steadily. If you can play every day and polish, you don't have to leave the regular position. "I'll be able to come to the plate with a good feeling and hit the right at-bat when I want to."

As of today, Raleigh has a batting average of 0.296, eight home runs, and a batting average of 0.248 and 13 home runs against right-handed pitchers. It is natural that he hit more home runs than right-handed ones who entered 76 at-bats in left at-bat with 168 at-bats, but his batting average has risen much higher in right-handed at-bats. This means that he worked hard in training and preparation at right-handed.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.