The best catcher on the planet right now is Cal Raleigh, the super slugger and defender for the Seattle Mariners.
And he has caught the eye of the best catcher in the history of baseball, Cincinnati Reds legend Johnny Bench.
Bench, the 10-time Gold Glover, 14-time All Star and two-time MVP, spoke with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale about Raleigh.
Here’s a sampling of multiple answers from Bench about Raleigh:
“Believe me, I’m paying close attention. I love watching him hit, seeing him go the other way while trying to get guys in from second and third. I love watching him throw, and unlike some guys you see, he’s not afraid to throw. I love watching him call a game. I love watching him drive in runs. I love watching everything he does, it’s just so impressive.”
And then maybe the highest praise from Bench: “Guys like him have come along maybe 14, 15 times in the history of the game.”
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Nightengale then asked Raleigh about what Bench had to say, and big Cal was pumped.
“That was so cool. He’s definitely one of a kind,” Raleigh said. “He was awesome. Old school. Knows baseball. Loves to talk about it. There were a lot of stories. He was really adamant about as you get older, taking care of yourself as a catcher. So he was giving me stuff on that. But then the big thing was runners in scoring position, what he was trying to do as a hitter, telling me he was taught to get runs in, and be an RBI guy. Those are the two things that stuck with me, slowing it down, not trying to do too much, and just getting those runs in. He was big on those two things.”
