Catcher Cal Raleigh Makes Seattle Mariners History With Latest Home Run

Cal Raleigh became the second-fastest Mariners player to reach 50 career home runs on Wednesday, only coming in behind Alex Rodriguez.

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has joined some elite company in franchise history.

Raleigh belted a two-run home run in the top of the first inning against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. It was Raleigh's 21st homer of the season and his 50th since getting called up to the big leagues midway through the 2021 campaign.

According to the Mariners' Baseball Information Department, Raleigh became the second-fastest player in team history to hit the 50-home run mark, doing so in 271 games. The only player who reached that milestone faster was future MVP Alex Rodriguez, who did it in 269 games.

It took Ken Griffey Jr. 377 games to hit his 50th home run, and he went on to become a first-ballot hall of famer and a member of the exclusive 600 home run club. Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki, two other former faces of the franchise and eventual hall of famers, didn't hit their 50th home runs until their 572nd and 760th games as a Mariner, respectively.

Cal Raleigh is 2nd-fastest to 50 career home runs in @Mariners history, reaching the mark in his 271st career game.

Only Alex Rodriguez reached the mark faster (269 G).

— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) August 17, 2023

Raleigh is now batting .223 with 21 home runs, 53 RBI and a .754 OPS on the season. The young slugger entered Wednesday with a 2.8 fWAR, which ranked third among catchers.

For his career, Raleigh is a .211 hitter with 50 home runs, 129 RBI, a .727 OPS and a 7.1 fWAR. The Mariners are 148-122 when Raleigh plays over the past three years, which is notable for a team that posted just three winning records in the 11 seasons before he arrived.

Seattle went on to defeat Kansas City 6-5, improving to 65-55 on the year.

The Mariners have one game left in their series with the Royals scheduled for Thursday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

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