TORONTO — Cal Raleigh has been the ultimate tormentor of Toronto and Blue Jays fans for years. And now, the Mariners’ all-world catcher will have a chance to continue his reign in the American League Championship Series, which begins on Sunday night.
While most outside the Pacific Northwest — at least on a national scale — didn’t truly catch on to the promising young career he’d embarked on until this season, that has not been the case whatsoever north of the border.
Over the past four years, no MLB hitter has dominated the Blue Jays like Raleigh, who has 11 homers and a 1.062 OPS in 26 career games against them (including postseason).
And he’s been even better right here at Rogers Centre, with a gaudy slash line of .300/.375/.820 (1.195 OPS), eight homers, two doubles and 17 RBIs over 56 plate appearances. Both his slugging percentage and OPS are the highest in the venue’s history among players with at least 56 plate appearances.
Can he point to why he’s had so much success here?
“No, not particularly,” Raleigh said. “I mean, it’s definitely a fun city. It’s a nice stadium, and they’re a good team. I always look forward to the challenge of playing them. Just always fun.”
Raleigh’s biggest moments at Rogers Centre were during the Mariners’ AL Wild Card Series victory in 2022 — a two-game sweep that still stings in Toronto.
And Raleigh was right there in the middle of it.
In Game 2, he scored the game-winning run on an RBI double from Adam Frazier with two outs in the eighth, after a double of his own. And he also scored on the game-tying double from J.P. Crawford that landed in No Man’s Land, led to a nasty collision between George Springer and Bo Bichette and cleared the bases.
That was when Raleigh was in his first full season in The Show, a year that began with him in such a rut that he was sent back to the Minors in April. And he only returned as an injury replacement for catcher Tom Murphy, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder and missed much of the year.
There’s also an additional sidebar with some spice in this series, because even after the ’22 playoffs, Raleigh seemingly still didn’t have Toronto’s attention.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after Raleigh crushed a 10th-inning homer in an eventual Mariners win in April 2024 that “he’s not very tough to pitch to when you execute your pitches.” Raleigh then responded by saying: “I know a lot of guys have beef with [Schneider] in the league. His comments aren’t surprising. I don’t have much to say. If you don’t have anything nice, don’t say it at all, I guess.”
Raleigh was also in the midst of some sparring here in April with Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos, over allegedly relaying signs. It involved jawing from both players and dugouts in an eventual Mariners win.
“What a season he’s had and what a great switch-hitter at such a hard position to hit,” said Kevin Gausman, who will start Game 1 for the Blue Jays, and who started Game 2 of that Wild Card Series in ’22. “To catch as many games as he has, what a season he’s put together. But yeah, I also feel confident with myself that I can go out and get him out. I’ve gotten him out before, so now it’s just about mixing up pitches and trying to keep him off balance.”
Moreover, Raleigh was Seattle’s most productive hitter in its AL Division Series win over the Tigers, a five-game stretch over which he led the Mariners in batting average (.381) and OPS (1.051), but he only had one homer.
“The mental part of it is definitely more exhausting than the physical,” Raleigh said. “Obviously, you’re physically tired — but mentally, having to deal with new pitchers and trying to face guys six, seven, eight times, whatever amount it was, it gets to be tough. Just the emotional roller coaster, as well. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of feelings and emotions going on.”
