Comparing Cal Raleigh to Johnny Bench
Cal Raleigh being worth of comparisons to Johnny Bench says a lot about his epic 2025 campaign.
Cal Raleigh is having an amazing season. So much so, it’s been suggested that he could end up having one of the best seasons ever produced by a catcher. The fact he recently surpassed Johnny Bench for most home runs by a backstop prior to the All-Star break takes the “best ever” conversation to another level.
Obviously, there’s a lot of season left to play. How Raleigh stacks up to the all-time greats by game-162 is a story yet to be written. Still, being mentioned in the same sentence as Bench is an impressive accomplishment for Seattle’s star catcher - even if it’s only the first week of July.
Since I consider Bench the greatest catcher I ever saw play, I thought it would be fun to compare his best seasons to what Raleigh has delivered in 2025. Just to be clear, this isn’t going to be a “who’s better” conversation. We’ll be doing a series of comps that may identify similarities and differences between both players - that’s it.
Let’s begin by reviewing the best years of Bench and then the version of Raleigh we’ve been witnessing this season.
The Big Three
To me, Bench’s three best seasons were 1970, 1972, and 1974. He was a Gold Glover and an All-Star all three years. Moreover, the Oklahoma native earned both of his NL MVP trophies during this period in 1970 and 1972.
From a sabermetric perspective, wins above replacement (WAR) certifies Bench was one of the most valuable players in MLB. He was top-three in the Baseball Reference and FanGraphs versions of the metric in each of the aforementioned seasons.
From an advanced run production standpoint, Bench’s wRC+ tells us he was at least 40-percent better than the average hitter in his three best seasons. Cincinnati’s second round pick in the 1965 draft also ranked no worse than 15th in wRC+.
Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) quantifies how a hitter’s total offensive value compares with the league average after adjusting for park effects. League-average is always 100. Therefore, a wRC+ of 150 means a hitter was 50-percent more productive than the average player. An 80 wRC+ would be 20-percent below average.
I realize that WAR, wRC+, Baseball Reference, FanGraphs, and the internet didn’t exist a half century ago. But these modern numbers further demonstrate Bench was one of baseball’s best players during his “big three” years.
Something for those of you preferring old school numbers. In 1970 and 1972, Bench led MLB in a statistic that’s been around since the beginning - home runs. Between 1970 and 1974, only fellow Hall of Famers Willie Stargell (181) and Henry Aaron (179) hit more round-trippers than Bench’s 170.
Cal’s big year
When we turn our attention to what Raleigh has done in 2025, it’s clear he deserves MVP consideration. At least, in early July he does. The 28-year-old currently leads MLB in home runs with only reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge ahead of him in bWAR, fWAR, SLG, and wRC+.
Even though the switch-hitting Raleigh primarily bats left-handed, his 12 home runs as a right-handed hitter leads all Mariners. Thanks to Aaron Goldsmith for mentioning this fun nugget during last night’s broadcast on ROOT Sports.
Along the same line of thought, only six big-leaguers have hit more round-trippers than the 21 bombs Raleigh currently has from the left side of the plate.
Halfway home
Since Raleigh’s season is only half over, I was curious about what Bench’s numbers looked like at a similar point during his three standout campaigns. To satisfy my curiosity, I compared Raleigh’s and Bench’s production through their team’s first 85 games.
Overall, Raleigh’s stats hold up well. He’s ahead of Bench in home run production and slugging percentage and generally reached base more often than the 14-time All-Star did. That said, there is one glaring statistical difference.
Current hitters seem to view success and failure differently than the players from Bench’s time. To me, there is no better example of this than the strikeout. The batter with the highest strikeout rate in 1974 was Doug Rader (21.8-percent), which is basically the 2025 MLB average. Seventy-three players are currently north of this threshold.
As for Raleigh, he has struck out over twice as often as Bench did in 1972 and 1974. Yet, the Mariners’ third round pick of 2018 is considered an MVP contender. Times have changed.
Way better than average
Knowing that Bench and Raleigh come from considerably different eras, I thought it would be interesting to see how each player’s stats compared to their respective contemporaries. Normally, wRC+ would be an ideal metric for this conversation. However, the FanGraphs splits tool, which is awesome, doesn’t support in-season comps prior to the 2002 campaign.
With this in mind, I took another approach. Contrast the basic production numbers of Bench and Raleigh through 85 games to the respective league averages for the full seasons being discussed. It’s not ideal, but should provide a measure of perspective.
As you might expect, Raleigh has been considerably better than league averages for every category listed above - just like Bench. In my mind, this further justifies comparing the two catchers.
Still, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the Mariners have 77 contests remaining. Bench’s stats are written in ink in the record book. Raleigh’s are lightly penciled-in with an eraser at the ready.
Time behind the plate
There’s another important distinction we should consider regarding Bench’s career and the era he played in. Since he was a lifetime Red, he never had an opportunity to serve as his team’s designated hitter. Conversely, Raleigh has been the Mariners DH 19 times this season.
Then again, the fact designated hitter wasn’t an option doesn’t mean Bench was relaxing in the dugout whenever he wasn’t catching. The following illustrates the positions the 1976 World Series MVP played during Cincinnati’s first 85 contests.
As a 22-year-old in 1970, Bench appeared at five positions other than catcher. He even started two games in center field, which I find to be absolutely fascinating and so cool. In 1974, Bench primarily played third base when he wasn’t donning the tools of ignorance.
I believe it’s reasonable to suggest that a catcher playing in the field is physically more demanding on him than being the designated hitter. This is an advantage Raleigh has over many great catchers from the past.
Now pitching…
There’s another aspect of baseball that’s changed since Bench’s heyday. The player of today sees far more opposing pitchers now than what a hitter saw 50 years ago. Several factors have led to this.
First, baseball expanded and then introduced interleague play. During Bench’s final season in 1983, there were 12 NL teams. Until 1997, hitters didn’t face pitchers from the other league in a game unless it was an exhibition or in the World Series. Now, batters have to deal with hurlers from 29 other ball clubs during the regular season.
And let’s not overlook the fact that starters typically threw more innings during Bench’s career than they do now. Not only that, the widespread use of specialized relievers didn’t become a thing until after he hung up his cleats.
During Bench’s second MVP campaign in 1972, the Reds used 13 pitchers for the entire season. Eighty-five games into 2025, the Mariners have already utilized 29 pitchers with the MLB average for teams being 24.
Pitchers Faced in a Season
Bench (1970) - 125
Bench (1972) - 127
Bench (1974) - 129
Raleigh (2025) - 180
Granted, teams occasionally turn to position players to pitch during blowouts. But even if we subtracted them from the count, it wouldn’t change the fact that big-league clubs are using significantly more pitchers than 50 years ago.
Finally, consider this. Raleigh has faced 636 pitchers in his first five seasons. That’s exactly fifty more than what Bench dealt with in 17 years.
Have any ID?
I’ll quickly mention age, which would be more relevant to a “who’s better” conversation. In 1967, Bench appeared in 29 contests as a 19-year-old. The following season, he’d win Rookie of the Year honors. Raleigh played his first MLB game at age-24. By then, Bench had already won two MVP trophies.
Heeere's Johnny!
Researching this piece was so much fun and reminded me why I consider Johnny Bench to be the greatest catcher of my lifetime. His career 75.1 bWAR leads all backstops. Not only that, Bench was one of the best players in baseball during his peak years.
From 1968 through 1979, Bench’s 70 bWAR was the highest in MLB along with longtime teammate and fellow Cooperstown inductee Joe Morgan (70.9 bWAR). Bench was also top-four in doubles and home runs during this period.
Cal’s time is now
As for Raleigh, whether his final numbers for 2025 will be worthy of comparison to the best seasons of Bench, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Joe Mauer, Carlton Fisk, Roy Campanella, Iván Rodríguez, and other Hall of Fame backstops is unclear at the moment. But one thing is certain. To have his name immortalized in Cooperstown like the men just mentioned, Raleigh will have to sustain this year’s excellence over an extended period.
Regardless of what the future holds for Raleigh, what he’s accomplished thus far has been magical. I’m looking forward to seeing whether the Florida State alum can continue producing at a high level through the dog days of summer.
Based on his history, I wouldn’t bet against Cal Raleigh.
My Oh My…
Off-topic… What do you think the Mariners could get in return for Luis Castillo now?