Seattle Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh On Pace For Historic Defensive Season
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has already jumped up the record books in team and MLB history this season.
On Tuesday, he set the single-season franchise record for most RBIs in a season by a catcher (84). And he's already joined Hall of Fame backstops like Mike Piazza and Johnny Bench as one of the only catchers in history to hit 20 or more home runs in each of his first four seasons.
But the offensive numbers aren't the only thing that Raleigh has excelled at this season.
On top of his park-clearing power, Raleigh has also put himself in Gold Glove consideration with his defense behind the plate.
According to game notes sent out by Mariners PR on Wednesday, Raleigh leads American League catchers with 14 defensive runs saved (according to Sports Info Solutions). He has 11 catcher framing runs according to Baseball Savant.
He's also been proved to be a common denominator with the success of the pitching staff.
Raleigh has a 3.29 catcher ERA in 116 games played and 953 innings caught. He's also tied for the most runners caught stealing in the major leagues (22).
Raleigh is tied with the Los Angles Dodgers' Will Smith for the league-lead. If Raleigh were to lead the league in runners caught stealing this season, he would become the first catcher to pace the MLB in that stat since Hall of Famer Gary Carter did it for the Montreal Expos in 1982-83.
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