Who is Mariners star Cal Raleigh's secret weapon girlfriend Hannah Shimek?

Cal Raleigh looks like he could be a prolific beer-league softball stud, not a Major League Baseball superstar that just shattered the single season home-run record for a catcher for the Seattle Mariners.

But as former Philadelphia Phillies legend turned broadcaster favorite during his playing days, "I ain't an athlete, lady, I'm a baseball player."

In 2025 with the advancements in sports science and the modern professional athlete, the 28-year-old home-run king is a throwback to the good ol' days of Kruk, before analytics became the norm and a ball player could still smoke a cigarette after the game, which led to that immortal quote.

The affectionately nicknamed Big Dumper is one win away from leading Seattle to the ALCS in a do-or-die Game 5 against the Detroit Tigers.

Thanks to his Sir Mix-A-Lot's, a Seattle native, favorite body part, he didn't really become a big-time player until the 2023 season, which is exactly around the same time the North Carolina native started dating Hannah Shimek.

Learn why she might indeed by his secret weapon that propelled him to stardom.

Shimek is a two-time national champion in softball

Shimek, 26, won two national championships while playing at Southern Oregon University, which is something she understandably boasts about on her Instagram handle.

While how Shimek and the 2024 Platinum Glove Winner and 2025 RBI and home run leader first met remains unclear, it's widely believed they started dating in 2023, making their hard launch as a couple in 2024 at the Mariners Care Foundation Summer Soiree

Notice that timing. Ever since then, Raleigh's production has improved dramatically, to the point that he had a better season than the two biggest names in the league: the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and Yankees' Aaron Judge.

Shimek is also a hitting coach for both baseball and softball

We're not suggesting that Raleigh is only getting tips from Shimek, but it certainly can't hurt to have a partner who understands the intricacies of what it takes to be a great hitter.

The former Florida State standout was drafted by the Mariners in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft. The first time All-Star this season didn't break through until late 2022, when he had some clutch hits in the postseason, but it was 2023 that really laid the groundwork into his truly historical 2025 campaign.

Shimek always has the Big Dumper's back

The bubbly MLB WAG is always at Mariners games to support him, and instead of sitting in a luxury box, she often posts being in the crowd with fellow fans.

When Raleigh destroyed the single-season record of 48 home runs by a catcher, set by Salvador Perez in 2021, with the MLB league winning 60, Shimek worte in her Instagram post, "Greatness was witnessed today. 29, your dedication, drive, and love of the game is inspiring. I love you big and couldn’t be more proud, congrats✨"

Maybe a huge reason for that greatness is Shimek.

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