Scuffling 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh out of Mariners lineup against Yankees
SEATTLE (AP) — While Aaron Judge hit batting practice at T-Mobile Park, an advertisement featuring him and Cal Raleigh flashed on the videoboard with a link to buy tickets to the series between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. The reigning AL MVP is in the No. 2 hole for New York on Monday night, but Raleigh, the AL MVP runner-up last year after hitting 60 homers — the most in a season by a catcher — will not be in the Mariners lineup for the series opener.
Raleigh has started the season ice-cold, going 2 for 15 with 10 strikeouts in Seattle’s opening series against the Cleveland Guardians. Manager Dan Wilson said it is a chance for Raleigh, who appeared in three World Baseball Classic games for the United States, to get some rest four games into Seattle’s season. “Coming out of spring training, he had sort of a shorter spring training in a lot of ways,” Wilson said.
“And, didn’t want to spike his workload too much. ” Veteran Mitch Garver is starting at catcher and batting sixth against the Yankees in his first appearance of the year. Last season, Raleigh appeared in a career-high 159 games for the Mariners and racked up 705 plate appearances.
Unless he appears in Monday’s game as a pinch hitter, he will at most have two chances to square off against Judge and the Yankees during the regular season. Ahead of arriving in Seattle, Judge told The Associated Press he was particularly impressed by Raleigh’s work ethic while they were teammates at the WBC. “Greatness leaves a trail,” Judge said.
“Just how he controls himself, how he controls that pitching staff, he’s going to have another great year, that’s for sure. ” As much as Raleigh excelled last season, it took a bit for the 29-year-old to hit his stride last year, too. It wasn’t until his 10th game of the season in 2025 that Raleigh’s average climbed above the Mendoza line, and it took until mid-April for the powerful catcher to start hitting home runs at a prodigious clip.