Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh added one other chapter to his historic season on Wednesday.
Raleigh launched a pair of dwelling runs through the Mariners’ 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies as Seattle clinched the AL West title, their first since 2001. He grew to become the seventh participant in MLB historical past to hit 60+ homers in a season as he shattered the document for many dwelling runs in a season by a catcher.
The Mariners catcher has put collectively a profession 12 months for the playoff-bound Mariners. He has posted a .248/.361/.598 batting line in his 687 plate appearances coming into Thursday, belting 60 homers and 23 doubles. Though Yankees outfielder Aaron Decide remains to be considered the favourite for the AL MVP, Raleigh’s efficiency has tightened that race.
60 dwelling runs doesn’t assure Cal Raleigh the MVP
There have been 10 seasons in MLB historical past the place a participant hit 60+ dwelling runs, together with Raleigh’s. Out of these seasons, solely 4 have been thought-about MVP worthy. Excluding Babe Ruth, who was ineligible for the 1927 MVP award as he had beforehand received the award, each of Mark McGwire’s 60+ dwelling runs seasons and two of Sammy Sosa’s 60+ homer seasons didn’t outcome within the MVP.
A kind of dropping seasons comes with a caveat – McGwire completed second to Sosa in 1998 for the NL MVP. Nonetheless, half of the MVP eligible seasons with 60 dwelling runs did not take dwelling the award.
Decide has put collectively one other spectacular season, posting a .328/.455/.681 batting line in 662 plate appearances, hitting 51 homers and 29 doubles. He leads the majors in batting common, on-base share, slugging and bWAR (9.3). He, like Raleigh, has been important to his staff’s success.
Each gamers are deserving of the MVP award. Until there are co-MVPs, which occurred in 1979 when Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell shared the award, 60 dwelling runs is probably not sufficient to win the MVP as soon as extra.
