Mariners’ Cal Raleigh ties single-season HR record for catchers

Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh homered in the first inning of his team’s home game against the Athletics on Sunday, tying Salvador Perez for the most home runs in a season by a primary catcher.
Batting right-handed, Raleigh blasted a fastball from Jacob Lopez 448 feet to left field for a two-run shot that scored Randy Arozarena, who’d led off the inning with a single. That gave Raleigh his 48th dinger of the year, extending his major league lead and matching the Kansas City Royals stalwart’s mark from 2021.
The record requires a player spend at least 75 percent of his games at catcher. Raleigh has been Seattle’s primary catcher since 2022.
Raleigh, 28, is a first-time All-Star this year and won the Home Run Derby in July. The latest home run brought his RBI total to 104, which leads the American League.
After Sunday, Raleigh will have another 31 games to break Perez’s catcher record. Perez had 48 home runs and 121 RBIs in the 2021 season, leading the majors in both categories, and won a Silver Slugger award that year.