Cal Raleigh Appreciation Publish | FanGraphs Baseball

Earlier than I began researching this text, I assumed that Cal Raleigh had been an All-Star earlier than. I used to be mistaken. Raleigh is in simply his third full season as a giant leaguer, however he’s spent all of that point as among the best catchers in baseball, so I used to be stunned to search out out that the final time he gained an award of any variety was 2019, when he was named the California League’s Rookie of the 12 months as a member of the Modesto Nuts. Now that I do know, I really feel even stronger concerning the premise of this text, so please forgive me for stating it so baldly: Cal Raleigh is a star, and it’s about time all of us acknowledged it.

Raleigh has turned on the afterburners over his final 9 video games getting into Wednesday, slashing .314/.390/.629 with three dwelling runs for a 187 wRC+. With that, he pushed his WAR to 4.3, tying his whole from the 2023 season. Based on WAR, he was the sixth-best catcher in baseball in 2022, the fourth greatest in ’23, and he’s now the second greatest in ’24. Until my sample recognition expertise have fallen off since elementary college, subsequent yr he’ll need to discover a technique to be quantity zero.

Right here’s what Kevin Goldstein wrote in June 2021, only a bit over a month earlier than Raleigh made his huge league debut:

Groups had been virtually universally enamored with Raleigh’s bat within the 2018 draft, however the Florida State product fell to the third spherical as a result of most had huge considerations about his capacity to remain at catcher, projecting a fast transfer to first base, the place the strain on the participant to hit will increase exponentially. The Mariners determined to a minimum of attempt to hold him behind the plate, and to the participant’s credit score, Raleigh has put an unbelievable quantity of labor into his protection, and all of the sudden appears like a mean defensive catcher.

Because it turned out, Raleigh struggled mightily on the plate throughout his 43-game rookie stint with the Mariners, however his protection graded out nice. In that brief pattern, each FRV and DRP rated his framing extremely, and DRS would hop on board the next season. This yr, in an unusual little bit of good concord, all three of these superior defensive metrics agree that Raleigh is having his greatest season ever behind the plate. DRP says he’s saved 17.5 runs, DRS has him at 17, and FRV at 13, all of that are adequate to fee him the very best defensive catcher within the American League and second greatest within the recreation, behind Patrick Bailey.

Raleigh has paired that defensive excellence with the basic profile of an influence hitter. He strikes out an excessive amount of, however when he does make contact, look out. That’s to not say that he’s uncontrolled: This yr, he’s been particularly aggressive on pitches over the guts of the plate, so regardless of his elevated chase fee, he ranks within the eightieth percentile in Robert Orr’s SEAGER metric, which measures selective aggression. Opposing pitchers, hopeful that they’ll induce a chase and fearful of what may occur in the event that they hit the zone, are throwing Raleigh loads of balls, and he’s operating a career-high 10.8% stroll fee regardless of placing out almost 30% of the time.

Even with the upper stroll whole, Raleigh’s profile nonetheless relies upon way more on energy than his on-base capacity. First, as befits a catcher nicknamed Massive Dumper, he doesn’t beat out too many hits, which drives down his batting common. Extra necessary is the best way Raleigh swings. He doesn’t simply have the profile of a basic energy hitter; he’s obtained the elevate-and-celebrate profile of right this moment’s energy hitters. He makes a speciality of barrels, hitting the ball arduous and lifting it like few others. His 53% fly ball fee is second amongst certified gamers, and for the third season in a row, he’s within the 94th percentile or higher in pulled fly ball fee. In the event you take a fast look at his spray chart, you’ll see dwelling runs to all fields, and also you’ll assume, “What a balanced batted ball profile.” And then you definitely’ll do not forget that he’s a switch-hitter. Raleigh is seeking to raise the ball and yank it from each side of the plate. His 30 homers are tied for twelfth in baseball, however his 25 pulled homers are good for third. On the left is a sprig chart that reveals all of Raleigh’s profession homers to the pull aspect and straightaway. On the best is a chart that reveals his reverse area dwelling runs.

This yr, Raleigh’s 30 homers lead all catchers. He led all catchers with 30 final season too, and regardless of showing in simply 119 video games and enjoying by way of a damaged thumb and a torn ligament in his catching hand for greater than a month, he additionally led all catchers with 27 in 2022. Solely eight gamers have ever put up three 27-homer seasons whereas catching a minimum of half the time. Right here’s the checklist of gamers who’ve executed it thrice in a row: Lance Parrish, Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench, and Cal Raleigh. In the event you’re holding rating at dwelling, that’s one eight-time All-Star, two inner-circle Corridor of Famers, and Cal Raleigh, who once more has by no means had a full season when he didn’t hit a minimum of 27 homers. Amongst catchers with a minimum of a thousand profession plate appearances, Raleigh’s .227 ISO ranks fifth all-time, and his 144 ISO+ ranks thirteenth.

Put all that collectively, and Raleigh combines first-rate protection with a homer-heavy 109 profession wRC+ (115 during the last three seasons). That’s a reasonably compelling bundle, and it’s made Raleigh the second-best catcher in baseball it doesn’t matter what timeframe you have a look at.

Our complete database reveals 278 four-win seasons from 106 completely different catchers. Together with Raleigh, I counted simply 20 who had put up three in a row, and the checklist as soon as once more reads like a who’s who of Corridor of Famers, together with newer framing standouts.

I’m not attempting to say that Raleigh is destined for the Corridor of Fame. I’m simply attempting to reveal that what he’s been doing doesn’t occur all that usually, particularly proper out of the gate. From the second he grew to become a full-time starter, Raleigh has been among the best catchers in baseball, and regardless of enjoying by way of harm at occasions, he’s been hands-down probably the most constant. There’s no assure that this may proceed. It’s arduous to remain on high defensively, particularly as a result of catching strategies have modified radically in the previous couple of years. Take a look at J.T. Realmuto, who was one of many league’s premier defenders for years, after which all of the sudden noticed his framing fall off out of nowhere final season. It additionally appears increasingly more doubtless that the ABS system can be coming quickly in some kind to erase a minimum of a part of a catcher’s framing worth. If nothing else, that simply implies that we must always admire Raleigh’s present greatness all of the extra. He belongs in any dialog concerning the best catchers within the recreation proper now, and it’s time he had the {hardware} to show it.