Despite breaking records and leading MLB in both home runs and RBIs during the 2025 season, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh fell short of winning the American League MVP award on Thursday night.
Raleigh finished second in the AL MVP voting to Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who had a tremendous season himself. Judge finished with 17 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes from the BBWAA as Raleigh garnered 13 first-place votes and 17 second-place votes.
While Judge’s season in itself was MVP-worthy, there’s an argument to be made that Raleigh was more deserving of the award for his campaign in 2025.
Since Judge was announced the winner, let’s break down two key reasons Raleigh was snubbed.
Cal Raleigh had a historic season at catcher
It’s not just that Cal Raleigh led the league in both home runs and RBIs, it’s that he put up historic offensive production for a catcher. Sure, Raleigh’s batting average was lower than Judge or any other catcher that’s won MVP, but he hit significantly more home runs than any catcher in league history.
With his 60 home runs this season, Raleigh shattered the previous record of 48 home runs by a catcher in a season. He also hit more than double the home runs than the two catchers that won MVP this century, Buster Posey and Joe Mauer. To top it all off, he broke Mickey Mantle’s record for the most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter as well.
Additionally, Raleigh’s 125 RBIs would have tied the third-most by an MVP-winning catcher, and both his OPS and WAR were in the upper-half of catchers that won MVP.
The MVP award was a battle and comparison between Raleigh and Judge, but more weight should have been placed on the historic accomplishments Raleigh achieved in comparison to other catchers.
Cal Raleigh’s defense made him the more valuable player
The MVP award is not the award for the best hitter—that’s the Hank Aaron Award. Though Judge’s hitting production dwarfs Raleigh’s, he did not have the all-around impact that Raleigh did.
While the MVP voting rules for the BBWAA state that there is no clear-cut definition for what an MVP is, the rules from 1931 do say, “Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.”
So sure, Judge has the edge based on pure offense, but Raleigh’s work offensively and as a catcher make him the better MVP candidate. Due to an elbow injury, Judge was a designated hitter for the Yankees in 56 games this season. In comparison, Raleigh was a DH in 38 games.
As a catcher, Raleigh has significantly more responsibility on every single pitch than Judge does in the outfield—and he handled that exceptionally through the year. He finished sixth in defensive runs saved above average and recorded all his offensive production while simultaneously catching more innings than anyone else in MLB, all without a passed ball.
To combine the physical toll of playing catcher at a high level while also achieving unprecedented production at his position should have been more than enough to make Raleigh the MVP.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Cal Raleigh Should Have Won 2025 AL MVP Over Aaron Judge.
