Cal Raleigh Has Helped Save the Mariners

Earlier at the moment, Jake Mailhot broke down how two unheralded members of the Mariners’ relief corps have contributed to the crew’s current surge. Certainly, loads has gone proper for Seattle, however one space that has not been talked about as typically is the catcher scenario. In our preseason positional energy rankings, the crew ranked 16th on the place — not unhealthy, however not nice, both. Up to now, in actual life, the Mariners are 14th. That’s not a lot of a distinction, so that you’d be inclined to assume issues have gone in accordance with plan.

What Mariners followers would let you know is that Tom Murphy has been harm, and Luis Torrens has been harm and ineffective. Enter Cal Raleigh, who’s taken up the catching mantle all by himself, hitting .211/.288/.474 en path to a 117 wRC+ as of this writing. Nevertheless it’s not a breakout many anticipated, nor did it come straightforward. In his first style of the present final season, Raleigh hit for a mere 47 wRC+ in 148 plate appearances, then struggled to start this season, in the end getting despatched all the way down to Triple-A to recuperate. After rejoining the large league squad on Could 7, nonetheless, Raleigh hasn’t regarded again, offering large knocks for an aspiring squad ever since.

How did Raleigh pull it off? Like so many others earlier than him, he merely began hitting the ball tougher — surprising, I do know. He has all the time possessed an uppercut swing, however mediocre exit velocities in his debut 12 months meant his fly balls become outs, not extra-base hits. Now, he’s supplementing these excessive launch angles with energy. If we take a look at Barrels per plate appearances, which accounts for the truth that a per-batted ball foundation tends to gloss over strikeout points, Raleigh is likely one of the league’s most improved hitters. He’s highlighted under in yellow:

Among the many 319 hitters on this plot, Raleigh ranks second in barrel per plate look acquire, behind solely Aaron Judge and tied with Rob Refsnyder and Christian Walker, represented by the factors snuggled as much as his proper. As a result of barrel charges are dependable fairly rapidly and keep constant year-to-year, we will belief that main rises (and falls) aren’t simply flukes. And evidently, Raleigh has made a pair tangible changes. Throughout his seven-game stint in Tacoma, teammate Mitch Haniger informed the younger catcher he ought to hunt for the fastball, as that was the pitch he might deal with. Provided that solely the very best of the very best can deal with a number of ranges of velocity and motion, it looks as if stable recommendation; not everybody might be Freddie Freeman.

Nevertheless it’s not as if Raleigh has been going after extra fastballs; his swing fee in opposition to them since Could is about the identical because it was early on within the season. What searching means on this context, I believe, is anticipating the fastball, thereby giving your self higher alternatives to sq. it up. Raleigh isn’t extra aggressive, however somewhat extra ready. Try his metrics versus fastballs from all of final season and April this 12 months, in comparison with these from Could onward:

Yep, Raleigh has been placing up hilarious numbers in opposition to fastballs since his call-up. Not that he’ll maintain this up — let’s be sincere, no one can — but when this isn’t a person dedicated to destroying a single a pitch selection, I don’t know what’s. Additionally spectacular is that his manufacturing hasn’t come at the price of extra whiffs, which is the kind of trade-off that we’re used to seeing even in an period of de-juiced baseballs. Owing to a penchant for fly balls, Raleigh has made essentially the most of that uptick in hard-hit fee. Going from the low-40s to the mid-50s often doesn’t end result on this drastic of an improve, however a median hitter wastes fairly a little bit of his energy with grounders.

One other adjustment? Raleigh has reportedly labored on shortening his swing. Swing size is outlined by the gap the barrel has to journey in an effort to strike the ball. There’s a candy spot someplace; a swing that’s both too lengthy or quick is detrimental. Earlier than, if Raleigh’s swing was too lengthy, which helps generate energy however hinders contact capacity, that might clarify his struggles with timing pitches pre-adjustment.

Bat path information is a while away from public consumption, however there’s an instance I discovered that appears as an instance the modifications to which Raleigh dedicated himself. First, a GIF of a swing from April this 12 months:

That’s a house run swing if I’ve ever seen one, with a leg kick and all; Raleigh wished that pitch deposited into the outfield seats. It may need labored in opposition to a middle-middle pitch, however he’s late right here, and a swing that’s each long-winded and overly rotational doesn’t assist in that regard.

Examine that swing with this one from July:

The digital camera angle makes it difficult to inform, and I’m no hitting coach, however to me, the second swing seems to have a shorter vary of movement. Towards an identical down-and-away fastball, Raleigh stays balanced and flicks it into the outfield somewhat than making an attempt to obliterate it. Right here, he’s additionally standing nearer to dwelling plate, and maybe that aids in untangling his swing. Lastly, you’ll discover that the leg kick has disappeared. I initially thought this may need been a one-off occasion, however upon viewing different clips, Raleigh appears to have bid it adieu. You can even see its absence right here, this time from the suitable aspect of the plate. With two strikes, he even visibly chokes up on the bat:

What Raleigh is doing makes good sense. He’s a hitter with sufficient uncooked energy that probably sacrificing a few of it for added contact works in his favor. And when his swing aligns with the incoming ball, he’s really placing himself able to hit the ball tougher and additional. It’s not simply the fastballs, both: Raleigh, general, is timing every part higher. His whiff charges in opposition to each offspeed and breaking pitches are down, and the outcomes on contact are up. He’s nonetheless a fastball hitter at first, and whereas that may come again to chunk him afterward, he’s at the very least now not completely misplaced in opposition to slower, bendier pitches. Earlier than our very eyes, he’s evolving into extra of a multi-dimensional (and thus scarier) slugger, filling a Mike Zunino-sized gap for the Mariners.

As all the time, there’s room for enchancment. Raleigh isn’t adequate — not but, that’s — to wave away issues a few strikeout fee north of 30%. When the ability inexplicably goes dim because of the vagaries of baseball, his journeys to the plate are going to look ugly. And although Raleigh is the uncommon switch-hitter, he nonetheless has clear platoon splits, faring significantly better in opposition to left-handed pitching as a righty than in opposition to right-handed pitching as a lefty. Extra to the purpose, his numbers as a righty this season are benefiting from an unsustainably excessive BABIP. It’s a part of Raleigh’s output that stands to fade away because the 12 months progresses, and presents itself as one other space to handle. Can he turn out to be a real switch-hitter? And may he curb a few of his swing-and-miss? We’ll see.

It’s protected to pencil in Raleigh as a wonderfully cromulent bat transferring ahead, although that also represents a large step ahead. As one of many Mariners’ former top prospects, he didn’t precisely come out of nowhere, however on the identical time, this has been a nice shock. And it unfolded somewhat rapidly, just like the Mariners themselves. After reaching a nadir in June, they’ve dragged themselves out of the mud, profitable 14 video games in a row alongside the way in which. You possibly can level to Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, your entire bullpen, and the omnipotent Julio as causes for his or her salvation. Nevertheless it’s Raleigh’s emergence that could be essentially the most unheralded of all of them.