There’s a certain irony in building your entire run-prevention plan around not letting one hitter beat you, only to watch the inning detonate because everyone else does. That’s where the Toronto Blue Jays are with Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh right now.
They don’t want any part of him, and you can’t blame them: he’s the rare switch-hitting catcher who changes at-bats just by stepping into the box. But baseball’s math is cruel when you start handing out baserunners to dodge a fight. You turn solo threats into crooked numbers, and the Mariners — more specifically, Julio Rodríguez and Jorge Polanco — are happily cashing those checks.