Cal Raleigh Appreciation Submit | 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 an enormous leaguer, however he’s spent all of that point as among the best catchers in baseball, so I used to be shocked to seek out out that the final time he gained an award of any form was 2019, when he was named the California League’s Rookie of the Yr 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 coming into Wednesday, slashing .314/.390/.629 with three residence runs for a 187 wRC+. With that, he pushed his WAR to 4.3, tying his complete from the 2023 season. In keeping with 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. Except my sample recognition expertise have fallen off since elementary college, subsequent 12 months he’ll must discover a method 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 have been nearly 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 issues about his capability 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 no less than attempt to maintain him behind the plate, and to the participant’s credit score, Raleigh has put an unbelievable quantity of labor into his protection, and abruptly seems to be like a median 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 12 months, in an unusual little bit of excellent 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 price him the perfect defensive catcher within the American League and second greatest within the sport, behind Patrick Bailey.

Raleigh has paired that defensive excellence with the traditional 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 12 months, he’s been particularly aggressive on pitches over the center of the plate, so regardless of his elevated chase price, he ranks within the eightieth percentile in Robert Orr’s SEAGER metric, which measures selective aggression. Opposing pitchers, hopeful that they will induce a chase and fearful of what may occur in the event that they hit the zone, are throwing Raleigh lots of balls, and he’s operating a career-high 10.8% stroll price regardless of putting out practically 30% of the time.

Even with the upper stroll complete, Raleigh’s profile nonetheless relies upon far more on energy than his on-base capability. First, as befits a catcher nicknamed Huge Dumper, he doesn’t beat out too many hits, which drives down his batting common. Extra vital is the best way Raleigh swings. He doesn’t simply have the profile of a traditional energy hitter; he’s bought the elevate-and-celebrate profile of at this time’s energy hitters. He focuses on barrels, hitting the ball arduous and lifting it like few others. His 53% fly ball price 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 price. Should you take a fast look at his spray chart, you’ll see residence runs to all fields, and also you’ll suppose, “What a balanced batted ball profile.” And then you definately’ll keep in mind that he’s a switch-hitter. Raleigh is seeking to elevate 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 twig 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 residence runs.

This 12 months, 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 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 no less than half the time. Right here’s the checklist of gamers who’ve performed it thrice in a row: Lance Parrish, Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench, and Cal Raleigh. Should you’re maintaining rating at residence, 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 no less than 27 homers. Amongst catchers with no less than 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 package deal, and it’s made Raleigh the second-best catcher in baseball it doesn’t matter what timeframe you take a look at.

Our whole database reveals 278 four-win seasons from 106 totally 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 making an attempt to say that Raleigh is destined for the Corridor of Fame. I’m simply making an attempt to reveal that what he’s been doing doesn’t occur all that always, 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 damage at occasions, he’s been hands-down essentially the most constant. There’s no assure that it will proceed. It’s arduous to remain on high defensively, particularly as a result of catching methods have modified radically in the previous few years. Have a look at J.T. Realmuto, who was one of many league’s premier defenders for years, after which abruptly noticed his framing fall off out of nowhere final season. It additionally seems to be increasingly more seemingly that the ABS system will probably be coming quickly in some kind to erase no less than a part of a catcher’s framing worth. If nothing else, that simply signifies that we should always recognize Raleigh’s present greatness all of the extra. He belongs in any dialog concerning the best catchers within the sport proper now, and it’s time he had the {hardware} to show it.