SEATTLE – The physical toll of playing catcher can be obvious, as the red welt on Cal Raleigh’s neck showed last Tuesday night.
The mental toll? That’s less so.
And that’s one of the intangibles voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will have to consider when asked to select an American League MVP this week.
Cal Raleigh or Aaron Judge?
There’s no wrong answer.
And that’s what makes the AL MVP voting so fascinating and so unpredictable entering the final week of the regular season. It could wind up being one of the closest votes in baseball history.
The case for Raleigh leans on his value to the Mariners as one of the sport’s elite defensive catchers.
Raleigh is having one of the greatest offensive seasons by a catcher in MLB history – perhaps the single greatest season by a catcher in history, all while playing half his games in the most challenging hitters’ park in MLB – and yet his greatest value might be his work with the Mariners pitching staff.
And there is no metric to measure what it means, and what it takes, to call 150 pitches in a game … while playing more innings behind the plate than any catcher in the league … while slugging more home runs than any catcher ever has … and doing so from both sides of the plate.
Raleigh means as much to his team, and does as much for his team, as any player in the game.
What more could he do?
Raleigh caught every inning of all three games over the weekend in Houston as the Mariners completed one of the most important series sweeps in franchise history, closing in on their first AL West title in 24 years.
And, oh by the way, he also hit two homers to extend his major -league lead to 58 and put the AL record of 62 within reach.
Last week in Kansas City, Raleigh blocked a pitch in the dirt that bounced and hit him squarely in the neck. He needed a minute to collect himself, but remained in the game.
Just a few minutes later, swinging left-handed, he broke Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for homers by a switch-hitter.
In the next inning, on his very next swing, he hit another home run from the right side.
Judge, the Yankees slugger, is a two-time MVP winner and unquestionably the most menacing hitter in baseball today. He has 49 homers and a 209 OPS+, meaning his more than twice as valuable as the average MLB hitter.
If voters weigh only offensive production, Judge would win running away.
Through the weekend, Judge and Raleigh rank as the top two most valuable players in MLB, via FanGraphs’ wins above replacement metric:
• Judge: 49 HR, 105 RBIs, .326/.451/.672 (1.123), 9.2 fWAR
• Raleigh: 58 HR, 121 RBIs, .247/.360/.589 (.949), 8.8 fWAR
Here’s where Raleigh stands among catchers all time:
*1. Buster Posey, 9.8 fWAR (2012)
*2. Johnny Bench, 9.2 fWAR (1972)
^3. Mike Piazza, 9.1 fWAR (1997)
4. Cal Raleigh, 8.8 fWAR (2025)
* won MVP; ^MVP runner-up
Raleigh, coming off a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove season in 2024, has caught 1,046 innings this season, more than anyone in the AL. His overall defensive metrics aren’t as strong this season as they were last, but he remains one of the premier defenders behind the plate and ranks as the AL’s highest-grade pitch framer.
Judge, limited by an elbow injury in the season’s second half, has a negative value as a right fielder this season, according to defensive metrics.
If Raleigh gets to 60 homers – everyone loves nice round numbers in baseball, right? – it could solidify his case.
Another tipping point that could work in his favor: an AL West title for the Mariners, should they clinch it this week.
That would be a meaningful achievement for a franchise that hasn’t done that in a quarter century, on top of the historic achievements for Raleigh personally.
Teammates have been lobbying on Raleigh’s behalf.
“I don’t see other guys catching like he does and hitting home runs like he does,” M’s starter George Kirby said.
“It’s the whole picture,” Logan Gilbert added. “It’s what he does blocking, saving runs, throwing guys out, getting banged up. It’s him doing everything. So if it’s truly most ‘valuable’ player, then it has to be the guy that brings everything to the table. And I think that’s him.”
Two BBWAA members from each MLB city vote for AL and NL MVP awards, a total of 30 voters from each league.
Instructions for selecting the award are open-ended. A player’s “value” is left up to each voter to determine. Voters are asked to list 10 players on an MVP ballot, ranked 1 through 10, with a weight point system used to select the winner (a first-place vote is worth 14 points and a second-place vote is worth nine points, and so on).
Award ballots were sent to BBWAA members on Sunday, and votes must be submitted before the start of the MLB playoffs on Sept. 30. The date for when the award is announced has not been set. It will happen after the World Series.