Why Mariners’ Cal Raleigh is MLB’s biggest disappointment at catcher originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Seattle Mariners are 14-16 on the season, and sit just a half-game back of a Wild Card spot in the American League. They also aren’t far out of the top spot in the AL West overall.
While the start to the year has been disappointing, the Mariners are still in fairly good shape overall. One of the reasons why things were both bad to begin the year, and getting better lately, is thanks to Cal Raleigh’s production.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield called Raleigh Major League Baseball’s most disappointing catcher this season. Even though he’s not playing terribly anymore, compared to expectations, he’s been a bit of a letdown this season.
Why Cal Raleigh is MLB’s biggest disappointment at catcher
“This is mostly in relation to Raleigh’s own impossible standard from last season,” Schoenfield writes. “Like most of Seattle’s lineup, he struggled the first few weeks, hitting .145 through his first 18 games.”
While Raleigh might be turning things around, hitting five home runs in the last week’s worth of games, his overall end-of-season production likely won’t come close to what he did a year ago.
Seattle’s starting catcher is hitting .205 on the season with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. His .707 OPS is back in a decent spot after a terrible start had it well below league average.
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But, overall, compared to his MVP-caliber player from a year ago, this season has been disappointing for Raleigh and the Mariners.
Schoenfield called Raleigh the biggest disappointment at the catcher position in baseball. It’s not about how good Raleigh actually is, but rather compared to the expectations for him coming into the year.
He’s still better than most catchers in baseball, and he could very well eclipse 50 homers once more. But for now, compared to expectations, Raleigh has been the biggest disappointment among catchers this year.
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