Mariners' Cal Raleigh makes major career announcement as he chases home run history

Cal Raleigh is the MLB leader in home runs, and he plans to show off that swing in Atlanta.

That's right: On Friday, Raleigh announced he'll be competing in the Home Run Derby ahead of the MLB All-Star Game (in which he'll certainly be the AL's starting catcher).

This will be Raleigh's first appearance in the Home Run Derby. The big question now for the man they call Big Dumper is which side of the plate he'll swing from. The switch-hitter has double-digit homers already this season as both a lefty and a righty.

As of the time of the announcement, Raleigh has already hit 32 home runs this season. That's in 79 games played (and 81 Mariners games as a team).

It's exactly the halfway point of Seattle's regular season, so it's easy to calculate that Raleigh is on pace to hit 64 homers for the season. That would be a new American League record, breaking Aaron Judge's 62 (which passes Roger Maris' 61).

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Raleigh's career-high in home runs is 34, so he's nearly surpassed that, too.

He already has the pre-All Star Break record for home runs by a catcher and by a switch-hitter.

Raleigh is also trending toward shattering the single-season catcher homer record, which is Salvador Perez's 48 after it stood with Johnny Bench at 45 for decades.

Also one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, Raleigh is hitting a career-high .275 and already has a career-best nine stolen bases, too (having only been caught twice).

MORE: Why Mariners superstar Cal Raleigh is called Big Dumper

Fans may have a little concern about the Home Run Derby slowing down Raleigh in the season's second half. That's a classic narrative.

The bigger worry should be whether the toll of catching can limit Raleigh's power as his legs get more tired late in the season.

But he has had strong second halves in his career before. He might just be able to keep this up, too. 

And at this point, who's betting against Raleigh winning the Home Run Derby while he's at it?

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