Seattle Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh Leading the Majors in This Defensive Category

Seattle Mariners backstop Cal Raleigh leads all catchers in caught stealing; he caught his 17th runner on Tuesday in a 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh looks on during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays last week at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Mariners ' catcher Cal Raleigh has been one of the top defensive backstops in the league this season. And he leads one of the key stats to prove it.

In a 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, Raleigh caught Cedric Mullins attempting to steal second in the top of the third. It was just the fourth time Mullins got caught stealing in his last 20 attempts. It was also the 23rd runner Raleigh has caught attempting to snag a bag this season. Seventeen of those outs have been come against runners attempting to steal second base.

Raleigh has sent those runners to the dugout in 71 attempts — giving runners just a 67.6% successful steal rate against him. This is well below the 2023 league-average of 80.2%. Since Raleigh was first called up in 2021, he has caught 80 of a potential 278 runners — good for a caught-stealing percentage of 28.8, which ranks 10th among active catchers.

According to a tweet from MLB.com's Daniel Kramer, Raleigh had a pop up time of 1.89 seconds after receiving the pitch and had a throw time of 82.7 miles per hour.

Cal Raleigh extends his MLB lead with his 17th catcher caught-stealing, this one on Cedric Mullins, who's long tormented the Mariners ... It's just the fourth time in 20 attempts in which he's been thrown out.

Pop time: 1.89 seconds
Arm strength: 82.7 mph pic.twitter.com/NwNMwygU6D

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) July 3, 2024

Raleigh's throw of 82.7 MPH would rank seventh in the league among catchers, according to Baseball Savant.

Raleigh's keen eye and strong arm behind the back stop has been invaluable for the Mariners.

Seattle is sixth in the league in runs allowed (328) — good for just 3.78 runs a game.

The Mariners' strong defense has kept them on top of the American League West standings with a 47-40 record — three games ahead of the second-place Houston Astros.

Seattle will have a chance to extend that lead in a game at 7:10 p.m. PT Wednesday against the Orioles at T-Mobile Park.

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