SEATTLE -- Cal Raleigh torpedoed his way into the Mariners history books on Friday night, blasting his 96th career homer to move to the top of the franchise leaderboard among catchers while, for the first time, using the new type of bat that has taken MLB by storm early in 2025.
Locked in a tense, eighth-inning tie, Raleigh demolished a 1-0 cutter from reliever Chris Martin and sent it sailing 399 feet and off the facade above the right-field concourse at T-Mobile Park to lift Seattle to a 5-3 victory over Texas.
And for the first time this season, the Mariners were in the win column for their second straight game, having entered the day as one of just six teams that hadn’t yet won two games in a row.
“There have been a lot of great players and catchers in this organization, and I just never would have thought that'd be a thing,” said Raleigh, who broke a tie with Mike Zunino on the all-time home-run leaderboard for Mariners catchers. “So I'm very happy about it. And, yeah, just a very, very cool thing that I can look back one day and say, if nobody's broken it by then.”
As for the “torpedo” bat that Raleigh went yard with, he was among the many Mariners testing them out for the first time in batting practice on Friday, as the club had just received their first shipment after ordering them out of intrigue upon seeing the waves that the Yankees made with them in a home-run barrage on Opening Weekend.
But Raleigh was hesitant at first, calling the lumber “a little funky” and saying that he needed “a little more time” to get adjusted.
So what changed in the short span between pregame and his clutch homer?
“Well, you know how baseball players are not very patient,” Raleigh said.
Jokes aside, Raleigh further elaborated his curiosity with the “torpedo” bats, which are defined by an untraditional barrel that rests closer to the hitter's hands, looking sort of like a bowling pin.
They’re designed with more wood -- and thus more mass -- concentrated in the area of the bat where the hitter is more likely to hit the ball. Each player touts a slightly different model, with the bat's shape specifically customized to maximize potential damage on any given swing.
“Obviously, everybody wants to try it out,” Raleigh said. “I think back to a couple years ago, it was the axe-handle [grip], and then it was the [hockey] puck, the big knobbed bat. And then this year, it's the 'torpedo' bat. So with all the science and stuff like that, and everybody trying to get an edge, there's going to be something like this -- next year and the year after, and guys are going to keep trying it. It'll always be a thing in baseball.”
Raleigh is no stranger to big moments -- and more so, big homers in those moments -- as he now has nine that either tied the game or pushed the Mariners ahead in the seventh inning or later.
“It's taken a long time to get comfortable in those situations and understand how pitchers are trying to attack you,” Raleigh said. “But yeah, I want to be in those situations. That's kind of what it's all about, right? Those late-game type moments, and it seems like we're in a lot of them, so it's almost a habit.”
Raleigh’s heroics were set up by the third hit of the night from Jorge Polanco, whose torrid start continued out of the designated hitter spot for his third straight game with a sore side.
Polanco also ambushed two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom with a first-inning homer for his third of the season, bringing his slash line through 33 plate appearances to an impressive .419/.438 /.710 (1.148 OPS).
“He's been carrying us,” Raleigh said. “He's single-handedly basically won two games for us and late in games. So he's been huge.”
Rowdy Tellez also homered off deGrom in the second inning, marking the first time he’s gone deep with the Mariners after joining them in Spring Training. In a 1-for-20 start to the season, the big slugger could be seen shouting in the dugout: “I did it!”
The early lead proved vital, as the Mariners were able to chase deGrom after the fourth. Now, they’re one win away from a winning homestand against their rivals from the Lone Star State, who’ve been the class of the division the past two years.