Cal Raleigh is ready for a little regularity to return to his life. Less cameras. Less interviews. Less attention.
“I’m ready to get back to normal. Normal games,” Raleigh said Friday before the M’s opened the second half of the season against Houston.
But life is anything but normal when you begin the second half of the season as the major league leader in home runs, just won the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game with your dad throwing and your brother catching, and have maybe the most recognizable nickname in baseball.
To be fair, Raleigh said he loved his first All-Star experience, from winning the Derby, to playing in the game, to the bus rides to and from Atlanta’s Truist Park. But it has been a lot of attention in a short period of time for the M’s catcher.
“Obviously, I feel like the last month has been obviously a little more. But it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a burden or it’s anything like that because it’s not. It’s a great position to be in,” Raleigh said. “Like I said, many people would obviously love to be in this situation. I’m just trying to take advantage of it and focus on the important things, which is winning tonight’s game, taking each pitch one by one and taking care of business at 7 o’clock rather than trying to control everything all at once.”
Raleigh winning the Home Run Derby was obviously the highlight and had the attention of many of his teammates, aside from Randy Arozarena, Bryan Woo and Andrés Muñoz, who were with him in Atlanta.
“It was cool to actually root for someone,” M’s outfielder Dominic Canzone said. “I was pretty amped up, especially the last round.”
Cole Young kept an eye on it early because it was his teammate. Then he fully engaged.
“Once he got to the final I was like, ‘Oh … he could actually do it.’ The first couple rounds it was like, ‘Oh, it’s really cool,’ and then I started to get pumped,” Young said.
M’s manager Dan Wilson joked that he was thankful for decimals, as it was by mere decimals that Raleigh even advanced out of the first round by hitting a slightly longer homer than Brent Rooker of the Athletics.
“It was awesome. I don’t know that I’ve been that excited to watch a Home Run Derby in a really long time,” Wilson said. “And to see Cal be able to pull that off, and then have his family there with him, just a really cool moment.”
From a baseball perspective, one aspect of the All-Star experience Raleigh enjoyed was getting a chance to talk with the pitchers he ended up catching, beginning with reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and Seattle U grad Tarik Skubal.
He also got a chance to watch his brother, Todd Raleigh Jr., play on Wednesday in the Atlanta area before traveling back to Seattle. “T,” as he’s known at home, got his fair share of attention during the All-Star festivities in part for the encouragement he was giving Raleigh during the Derby.
“He was hyping me up the whole time,” Raleigh said. “Teenage boys, they’re weird, they’re awkward. I mean, you guys know. But that’s how he is. He’s no different. And for him, I didn’t think he’d be as talkative. He was super jacked up. Every time I hit one good, he knew it and he was obviously changing the target for my dad. And he was telling me which ones he thinks I should take in that extra round where you can take a few pitches.”
Sunday still TBD
The Mariners are still not listing a starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Astros. It’ll be either George Kirby, Bryan Woo or Logan Gilbert facing off against Houston ace Hunter Brown.
Wilson said they’re trying to maximize rest for their starters knowing that they start the second half with 17 games in 17 days with 14 of those against division foes.
“Yes, obviously this is a big series, but they’re all big series going forward,” Wilson said. “So, we’re trying to set ourselves up the best way that we can so that we’re in a good spot as we go out throughout the second half.”
Wilson said both Gilbert and Kirby are healthy after each missed time with injuries during the regular season.
Woo has gone the longest since starting with his previous start coming on July 10 in New York. Gilbert started last Friday in Detroit and Kirby started last Saturday.
Woo pitched one inning in the All-Star Game.
Miller’s next step
Injured right-hander Bryce Miller threw a full bullpen this past Tuesday during the All-Star break and seems bound for Tacoma next week if all goes well Saturday.
Miller is expected to throw a live batting practice Saturday, which could be the final step before potentially going on a rehab assignment. Miller has been out since mid-June when he received a PRP injection for his troublesome right elbow that has led to two stints on the injured list this season.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
