The Big Dumper is heading to the biggest home run show on earth.
On Friday, Cal Raleigh, the home-run-hitting catcher for the Seattle Mariners who is in the middle of a career year at the plate, officially joined the list of sluggers who will participate in the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby. This year’s Home Run Derby is set for July 14 in Atlanta as part of the 2025 MLB All-Star Game festivities.
Raleigh entered Friday’s game against the Texas Rangers with 32 home runs and as the only MLB player with more than 30 so far this season. He originally said in early June he would participate in the Home Run Derby “in a heartbeat,” and now, that thought is coming true.
The 28-year-old Raleigh is already nearing his career-high in home runs, which he set last season with 34 while also tacking on 100 RBI.
While Raleigh is hammering home runs again this season, he’s also getting on base and hitting at a more productive level as well. With a career slash line of .227/.310/.477, Raleigh is far outpacing that this season by slashing .275/.380/.651 heading into Friday. His OPS of 1.031 ranked only behind reigning American League Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge, who had an OPS of 1.180 through his first 80 games with the New York Yankees.
Additionally, Raleigh’s 4.4 bWAR not only leads Seattle but is fourth in all of baseball behind Judge (5.8), Jeremy Pena of the Houston Astros (4.7) and Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs (4.5).
Raleigh is the second potential All-Star to agree to participate in the Home Run Derby, with Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves already announcing he would represent his hometown team in the festivities.
In his fifth MLB season (all with Seattle), Raleigh has received AL MVP votes each of the last two seasons, finishing as high as 12th in the voting. This season, he opened at +10000 on BetMGM to win MVP honors. However, his league-leading power and increased production at the plate now have him at +375, second only to Judge (-900).
