The Seattle Mariners got the win Friday night, but the Colorado Rockies still found plenty of room to run.
Colorado swiped four bases in Seattle’s 5-4 victory, and the night once again put the Mariners’ handling of the running game under the spotlight. The game wasn’t clean defensively, either.
Seattle committed one official error, but there were also several plays that could have gone the other way. The Rockies’ four steals came against the Mariners’ pitching-catcher mix with Cal Raleigh behind the plate, and only one runner was actually caught - Cole Carrigg, who was picked off dancing off second base by Andres Munoz in the ninth inning.
There was even more chaos hidden inside the box score. One runner might have been thrown out at second if Cole Young had handled the throw cleanly, and another was called safe after coming off the bag, though replay did not overturn the ruling.
The bigger picture is hard to ignore. Opponents have stolen 118 bases against Seattle this season, the 10th-most in baseball.
They’ve been caught stealing 31 times, which ranks 14th. That leaves the Mariners with a 21 percent caught-stealing rate, 19th-best in the league and below the MLB average of 23 percent.
If you want to trace the problem, the pitchers have to be part of the conversation. Bryan Woo, Gabe Speier and Seranthony Dominguez all gave up stolen bases on Friday, and all three had Raleigh working behind the plate.
The broader issue is that pitchers can get comfortable in their routines, and that makes them easier to time. The pitch clock has only sharpened that rhythm, and with the bigger bases in play, the game was always going to tilt a little more toward the runners.
Seattle’s staff also has a shape issue. Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock and George Kirby are all tall pitchers, and that usually means a longer path to the plate. More moving parts means more time to get everything synced up, and that gives runners a little more of an edge unless those pitchers stay locked in on holding them close.
The catchers, though, are not getting a pass either. Baseball Savant lists Raleigh with a pop time of 2.01, the slowest of his career and 85th among 93 catchers in the database. His average throwing velocity is 81.8 mph, down nearly three mph from his Platinum Glove-winning 2024 season.
Mitch Garver’s numbers are even rougher: a 2.07 pop time, last among 93 catchers, and an average velocity of 78.7 mph, which ranks 87th. Jonny Pereda sits at 84.4 mph in velocity, 30th, with a 1.98 pop time that ranks 72nd.
That puts real responsibility on the catchers, too.
As for Raleigh specifically, there’s reason to be concerned about the dip in arm strength and pop time, but there’s also context. He battled an oblique injury for at least a month and a half, and that kind of issue can drag down the numbers.
Even now, while he’s healthy enough to play and hitting well, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s back to full strength in that area. His 2025 numbers were still good.
Raleigh still brings plenty elsewhere. He ranks in the 94th percentile in blocking, which is a major asset. But he sits in the 25th percentile in framing, and that skill has become even more important in the ABS era.
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