SouthernWorldwide.com – Cal Raleigh, who was a near MVP candidate last season, is currently experiencing a significant slump in his performance, marked by a prolonged streak of hitless at-bats.
Last season, Raleigh narrowly missed out on winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, coming in second to Aaron Judge. This year, however, he is on a path for a drastically different outcome.
The Seattle Mariners catcher achieved a remarkable feat in 2025, becoming only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in a single season. While reaching such a milestone would have been a formidable challenge this year, every plate appearance has become a struggle for him.
On Monday night, Raleigh went 0-for-4 in the Mariners’ 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros. This performance extended his hitless streak to an alarming 36 consecutive at-bats.
Prior to this extended slump, Raleigh was already facing difficulties at the plate. In his first 30 games of the season, he was hitting .205 with a .707 OPS. Now, his batting average has plummeted to .157, making it the second-worst in baseball, and his OPS has dropped to .559, the 10th-worst among all players.
As a left-handed hitter, his slash line is .167/.256/.370. When facing right-handed pitchers, his numbers are even lower, with a slash line of .133/.196/.200.
The last time Cal Raleigh recorded a hit was on April 27, a significant period ago.
Looking at the underlying metrics, there is little indication that Raleigh is poised for an immediate turnaround. While any extended slump is bound to involve some degree of bad luck, his performance data has drastically worsened.
Last season, Raleigh ranked in the 85th percentile for hard-hit percentage, indicating a high rate of exit velocities of at least 95 mph. This season, he has fallen to the 10th percentile in that same category. Both his barrel percentage and average exit velocity are significantly lower compared to the previous year.
A major issue for Raleigh has been his performance against fastballs. Last year, he hit .230 against fastballs with a .594 slugging percentage. This season, those numbers have cratered to .093 and .222, respectively.
Furthermore, he has swung and missed at 36.0% of fastballs faced this year, a notable increase from 26.3% last season. He was able to hit more than half of four-seam fastballs traveling at 95 mph or harder last year, but this season, that figure has dropped to just 23.3%.
Entering the season, the Seattle Mariners were considered strong contenders for the American League pennant. Currently, they hold a 20-22 record, and their ability to turn their season around is closely tied to Raleigh’s performance.
The Mariners are currently two games behind the Athletics for the AL West title, with a substantial portion of the season still remaining.
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However, for the switch-hitting catcher who was just last year chasing Aaron Judge for an MVP award, the season might be slipping away from them faster than anticipated.
