Major League Baseball announced Monday that Cal Raleigh has been named the American League position player of the week. The honor comes as little surprise, following the big dumpers massive series in Chicago, as well as a strong slugging showing all week long.
The accolades have flowed in for Raleigh as he authors what is on pace to be the greatest individual season of any catcher in MLB history. Offensively, Raleigh now boasts an astonishing 191 wRC+ and 5.1 fWAR, alongside a .276/.383/.659 line with 31 home runs in his first 75 games of 2025. If he merely matches his projected pace by FanGraphs and most evaluation systems the rest of the way, he’ll set the record for most homers by a backstop in a single season, and likely surpass any single season WAR or offensive totals boasted by Johnny Bench, Buster Posey, Mike Piazza, or the other many astounding catching talents over the years.