Calling pitches from the dugout? Big Dumper says not so fast

Before he became the 2025 AL MVP runner-up with perhaps the greatest offensive season ever put together by a primary catcher, Cal Raleigh had already established himself as one of the game’s best backstops.

Raleigh has long been an elite pitch framer and has controlled the running game at a high level. He also has ample respect from teammates for the way he handles the Mariners’ pitching staff, from mastering scouting reports to understanding the flow of any given game. That’s all part of why he won the Platinum Glove in 2024.

But baseball is constantly evolving. Teams have begun to experiment with ways to take something off of catchers’ plates. The Marlins and Rockies have been calling pitches from the dugout this season, while the Mets and Giants are among those who have tested it or at least discussed it in recent months.

The Big Dumper, however, isn’t on board.

Raleigh joined ESPN’s Jeff Passan on the “Sources Tell Jeff Passan” podcast, and as part of it, he explained why he thinks pitching’s latest innovation “takes away from” the appeal of catching.

“It's a small fraternity, and learning the game and becoming a catcher, that's part of it,” Raleigh said.

"I think that's stupid, personally,” he added. “I get it. There's so much data now. You can put tons of stuff into a computer, and you can see what pitches are really good and what pitches are not good. If that becomes the case, then everybody's just gonna be throwing the same pitch and spamming the same pitch over and over. And the more you throw a pitch, the less effective it becomes. You can take the best pitches in the world, and eventually, if you throw them enough, they're gonna start getting hit, or guys are gonna start recognizing, learning how to hit them.

Raleigh added on the podcast that he typically gets to the ballpark much earlier than most, making sure he has time to get all of his “homework” done. But, he said, sometimes, the homework gets thrown out the window. There’s still a human feel to properly managing a pitching staff.

“Once the game gets started, nobody knows what's going to happen. A guy might hit a leadoff home run, and the pitcher might just go into shambles,” Raleigh said. “I think it's a fine mix of that. You always want to be the most prepared. You want to do all your homework. You want to do all that stuff, and I think you should. At the same time, you have to understand that it's still a game, and crazy things can still happen and circumstances can change very quickly.”

At any rate, Raleigh and catching mate Mitch Garver have the Mariners pitching staff humming again to begin 2026, with a 3.78 staff ERA that ranks seventh in MLB.

Raleigh, who comes from a family full of catchers, said the chance to start calling games when he was growing up immediately made him grow fond of the role. And if he has it his way, that won’t change anytime soon.

“In a way, you're kind of managing and playing at the same time, which is kind of fun, just because you're having to think through so many different scenarios,” Raleigh said. “It's kind of why I love it.”