2025 Fantasy Baseball: Cal Raleigh Profile, Preview, Predictions
In this story:
Cal Raleigh's bat continues to improve in multiple areas, earning him a premium slot in the Seattle Mariners batting order in 2024. His only weakness has been batting average. Is his fantasy catcher status repeatable this year?
Cal Raleigh has hit a home run from each side of the plate tonight. 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/aJhsso0q7y
— MLB (@MLB) July 10, 2024
C – Cal Raleigh, SEA (ADP – 81.0)
In 2023, Raleigh saw his playing time rise by about 33%, leading to top-tier catching value in runs (78), home runs (30), and RBIs (75). His walk rate (9.5) trickled higher while shaving off some damage in strikeouts (27.8 – 29.4 in 2022 and 19.6 in the minors). His best play came over the final three months (.235/42/19/42 over 272 at-bats). Raleigh had less value vs. lefties (.218 with four home runs and 14 RBIs over 101 at-bats).
His power progression (343 home runs) continued last season, with another increase in at-bats (546). Raleigh set a career-high in RBIs (100), thanks to a spike in his RBI chances (430 – 391 in 2023) and his RBI rate (15.6 – 12.3 in 2023). He upped his walk rate (11.2) with almost the same strikeout rate (28.0). His swing path (51.9%) remains fly-ball favoring with no change in his HR/FB rate (17.4). Raleigh pushed his hard-hit rate (48.1) by 7.4 percentage points from 2023, with a slight uptick in his exit velocity (91.0 mph).
Raleigh hit under .200 in May (.187), June (.193), and August (.163) while ending the year with success in September (.286/16/7/20/1 over 98 at-bats). The change in the Mariners starting lineup led to him hitting third and fourth in the batting order for 416 of his 546 at-bats. He only hit .183 vs. lefties with 21 runs, 13 home runs, 30 RBIs, and three steals over 153 at-bats.
Fantasy Outlook: The coin flip for fantasy drafters this season about Raleigh is trading batting average for power at the catcher position. The current Mariners’ roster (January 2nd) gives him a chance to bat in a similar part of the batting order. Team structure is key to his fantasy value, but his ADP (81.0) is much lower than in 2023 (142.0).
His FPGscore (1.18) last season was almost identical to Salvador Perez's. In this comparison, the tradeoff would be more runs and some home runs for batting average. I respect his floor in power, and he is improving. My thought is a .225/75/30/85 player who needs Seattle to improve their starting lineup to reach a higher ceiling.
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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