The Month That Turned Cal Raleigh Into Baseball’s Best Home-run Hitter

Halfway done this Major League Baseball season, nan hitter connected a historical home-run gait is not Aaron Judge, nan reigning American League MVP, nor Shohei Ohtani aliases Juan Soto, nan sport’s $700 cardinal sluggers.

It’s Cal Raleigh, nan Seattle catcher whose erstwhile career-high for location runs successful a play was 34, and who plays a position, and successful a location ballpark, that has ne'er been known for producing prolific home-run hitters.

And yet, successful only nan first 96 games of nan season, Raleigh has already deed 38 homers, nan second-most ever earlier nan All-Star break. A superior catcher has ne'er deed 50 location runs successful a azygous season; nan grounds belongs to Salvador Perez's 48, from 2021.

It is nan season’s biggest surprise. Yet it did not travel retired of nowhere.

Specifically, it came from Modesto, California, and Raleigh’s career-changing period of minor-league shot successful 2019 that first suggested specified a historical tear was possible. When galore adjacent to Raleigh are asked to explicate nan origins of his All-Star play pinch Seattle, they tie a consecutive statement backmost to nan half-season he spent pinch nan Modesto Nuts, and nan subtle changes to his hitting that are still paying disconnected today.

“I was conscionable texting a buddy that I worked pinch successful nan insignificant leagues that was astir during that season,” said Taylor Bennett, now an adjunct diversion trainer for nan Mariners who, successful 2019, was moving for nan Modesto Nuts erstwhile Raleigh joined. “And I was like, ‘This twelvemonth seems for illustration Modesto erstwhile he was connected nan heater.' But, it conscionable hasn’t stopped.”

When Nuts head Denny Hocking went searching for Raleigh connected nan day of June 20, 2019, Raleigh was decidedly not connected a heater astatine nan plate. It was nan only blemish connected his different beardown 2nd master play since Seattle had drafted Raleigh successful nan 3rd information retired of college.

Two days earlier, Raleigh had represented Modesto successful nan all-star crippled of nan Cal League, a section of single-A teams clustered successful bluish and Southern California, and among nan little rungs of minor-league baseball. One sound connected Raleigh retired of assemblage concerned his protect potential. Yet successful Modesto, empowered by coaches to tally meetings straight pinch nan Nuts’ pitching staff, he earned nan spot of pitchers by making them look good. He showed up hours early to nan ballpark, having scouted really their pitches could forestall opponents from getting connected base. And if they did, he strengthened his limb to drawback them stealing.

When Raleigh arrived astatine nan location of Catherine and John Benning southbound of Modesto earlier nan play began, nan Bennings repeated nan instructions they had told dozens of minor-leaguers they’d hosted during erstwhile seasons. The players could expect barbecue tri-tips aft Sunday time games, to consciousness free to adhd to nan family’s market database and, connected uncommon days disconnected for nan Nuts, nan Bennings would connection to return players connected time trips to show them Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe aliases nan beach. Raleigh almost ever declined specified offers, however. He preferred studying upcoming opponents connected his iPad from their couch, aliases asking whether Michael Sadler, nan Nuts’ spot and conditioning coach, could travel bent retired by nan family’s pool. When nan family welcomed a caller grandson successful 2019, Raleigh held nan babe successful an easy chair, allowing nan babe to wrap its manus astir his scale finger.

“He conscionable wanted to bent out, swim, relax, get pedicures pinch my daughter,” Catherine Benning said. “… I conscionable show people, he’s conscionable nan nicest, nicest kid.”

It wasn’t nan only spot wherever Raleigh was building rapport. At 6-foot-2 and pushing 230 pounds, Raleigh was among nan roster’s bigger players, and he embraced his framework by helping shape a nine he nicknamed nan “Beef Boy.” Raleigh’s parents, who owned a screen-printing business successful his North Carolina hometown, had sent T-shirts pinch nan outline of a cattle and nan words: “100% Pure Beef, No Added Steroids aliases Fillers.” Raleigh had besides written a Beef Boy opus pinch lyrics to nan tune of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away.”

“The qualifier to beryllium a Beef Boy was that you had to beryllium complete for illustration 225, 230 and you had to deed tanks,” Bennett said.

Yet Raleigh was not hitting tanks erstwhile Hocking recovered nan catcher underneath nan Valley Strong Ballpark successful Visalia, California, connected June 20.

After hitting 7 homers successful nan season’s first 30 games, Raleigh deed conscionable 1 successful his past 29, 1 of respective hitting metrics that had regressed.

Hocking had scratched retired a 13-year profession successful MLB by knowing nan nuances of hitting. And what he had heard that time from a Mariners coach overseeing nan hitting of nan team’s prospects had concerned him.

“He was like, ‘Man, I was talking to Cal, and his attack [as a hitter] is not, ‘Yes-yes-yes-no,’ it’s, ‘Maybe I should swing, possibly I shouldn’t,'" Hocking said. "And I was like, 'Wait, what?' And instantly I time off my office, and I’m like, 'Cal, let’s go,' and we spell into nan cage.

“I'm like, 'Are you kidding maine — your process successful nan batter’s container isn’t, swing-swing-swing-don’t swing, it’s just, possibly I’m gonna plaything astatine this pitch, possibly I won’t?' And he looked astatine maine like, yeah, what’s incorrect pinch that? I’m like, dude.”

Hocking told Raleigh that hitting, for illustration changing lanes connected a freeway, depends connected speedy decision-making. There simply isn’t clip to process aliases to beryllium timid successful nan little than a half-second it takes a 90-mile-per-hour fastball to scope location plate.

The boy and nephew of coaches, Raleigh already had beardown fundamentals pinch his plaything that didn’t require remaking. Hocking made a mini timing alteration to wherever Raleigh, a switch-hitter, made interaction pinch nan ball, but wanted nan alteration to beryllium conscionable 1 portion of a intelligence checklist that Raleigh could mention to to clasp himself accountable successful nan batter’s box.

“It was a small spot of a mechanical change, but much an attack standpoint of, ‘What do I want to do?’” Hocking said. “And past learning it and increasing it, and wrong that confidence, now you go invincible. I deliberation what he did successful that short play of clip was made thing that is really hard, that looks really hard, simplify it successful a measurement that it became 2nd quality to him.”

Raleigh went 0-for-5 connected June 20 successful Visalia. But nan pursuing night, he deed a location tally and drove successful 2 runs. Over nan adjacent 22 games, he deed 14 location runs successful 78 at-bats, pinch 31 runs batted in, and sewage connected guidelines via walks astir arsenic galore times arsenic he struck out, different important displacement from early successful nan season.

The Mariners did not make Raleigh disposable for an question and reply for this article, but successful a 2020 interview he said nan "one small adjustment" was much intelligence than mechanical.

"I was like, I benignant of for illustration this," Raleigh said. "I don't person to deliberation astir my plaything arsenic much. All I person to do is mentally get fresh to hit."

Prodded by Hocking, nan Nuts liked to execute karaoke connected their autobus during roadworthy trips passim California — Raleigh sang country, Bennett recalled — and during Raleigh's basking streak, nan statement ambiance could proceed into each game.

"When he was going done that agelong location of conscionable being perfectly connected fire, it was like, man, this feline is nan existent deal, and we’re seeing it firsthand," Sadler said.

Raleigh's changes to his hitting mentation was portion of a overmuch larger regular he was opening to instill while successful Modesto. When Raleigh arrived astatine nan ballpark, hours earlier teammates, he would tally done nan aforesaid regular of hep and limb exercises to support his legs mobile, and an arm-strengthening routine, pinch Sadler, Modesto’s spot coach, and Bennett, its trainer.

In nan Nuts’ humble weight room, Raleigh’s beardown little assemblage — his generous backside had earned him nan nickname “Big Dumper” — allowed him to laic backmost pinch a barroom crossed his hips and thrust much than 500 pounds upward.

“So, yes, his large dumper decidedly is capable to move immoderate weight there,” Sadler said.

The spot allowed Raleigh to make powerfulness and deed homers moreover erstwhile reaching for pitches that, for different hitters, whitethorn person turned into unthreatening bloopers.

“The man tin move a location if he wanted to," Bennett said.

The changes to really Raleigh approached his mentation and sheet appearances didn’t return overnight. During a June 26 crippled successful San Jose, little than a week aft his chat pinch Hocking astir his hitting mindset, Raleigh took nan first transportation without looking for illustration he had immoderate intent to swing, from Hocking’s dugout perspective.

“Almost for illustration a statue,” Hocking said.

The head stepped retired onto nan grass, “and I walked down nan statement and screamed astatine him successful my ain non-screaming way, conscionable fundamentally an angry question, ‘Hey, are you holding yourself accountable to your line?’

“I move astir and I spell back, adjacent pitch, he hits a tank.”