SEATTLE — Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 48th and 49th home runs on Sunday against the Athletics, breaking the single-season record for catchers set by Salvador Perez with the Kansas City Royals in 2021.
The switch-hitting Raleigh, batting from the right side, homered off A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez in the first and second innings. Both home runs were two-run shots.
It was the 39th and 40th long balls Raleigh has delivered as a catcher this year. He has nine while serving as a designated hitter.
Perez hit 15 home runs as a DH in 2021, and 33 at catcher.
Only four other players in big league history have hit at least 40 homers in a season while primarily playing catcher: Johnny Bench (twice), Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley and Mike Piazza (twice). Bench, Campanella and Piazza are Hall of Famers.
Raleigh launched 27 homers in 2022, then 30 in 2023 and 34 last season.
A first-time All-Star at age 28, Raleigh burst onto the national scene when he won the All-Star Home Run Derby in July. He became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the title. He is the second Mariners player to take the crown, after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr.
Raleigh’s homers gave him 106 RBIs on the season. He is the first catcher with consecutive seasons of 100 RBIs since Piazza (1996-2000), and the first American League backstop to accomplish the feat since Thurman Munson (1975-77).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.