The American League MVP race is one of the best award races in baseball this year. Seattle Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh leads the league in home runs and leads the AL in RBIs. New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge leads the league in practically everything else.
Raleigh is closing in on Judge’s AL record of 62 home runs in a single season. Judge famously slugged 62 home runs in 2022 to break the record. Now, three years later, Raleigh has a chance to break the record.
Each player has a unique angle toward winning the award. Judge’s campaign has been as impressive as anybody in this generation, but Raleigh has a chance to make history. If Raleigh can slug 63 home runs on the year, he has a much better chance of bringing home the award.
At this point, Raleigh has the respect of his fellow catchers. In fact, one of the most respected catchers in baseball recently revealed that he’d choose Raleigh as the AL MVP over the aforementioned Judge.
“I think he’s the MVP of the American League,” Salvador Perez, the Kansas City Royals’ All-Star backstop, said. “I have a lot of respect for Aaron Judge and I know he’s a good hitter, too, but to be a catcher and prepare the game plan, help the pitcher, catch well, throw well and hit 50-plus homers? Ha!”
Perez, a fellow slugging catcher, would clearly be backing Raleigh in this race. In fact, fellow catchers might be the only people in the baseball world who can understand how impressive Raleigh’s season truly is.
Raleigh is an impressive defensive catcher and one of the best bats in baseball. He’s caught 120 games this season, compared to 35 in the designated hitter slot.
At the end of the day, both players are deserving, but only one can bring home the award. If you were to ask any catcher in the league, their vote might lie with Raleigh.
But Judge seems to have the more complete season. It’ll be hard to give the award to anybody besides Judge this year.
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