The Seattle Mariners are the fourth-newest team in Major League Baseball. Founded in 1977, they don’t have the pedigree and longevity of most of their peers. They endured long periods of mediocre baseball between the few good periods. One position that hasn’t been fruitful for Seattle is catcher. The Mariners have three members in Cooperstown after Randy Johnson changed his primary team from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of those three players, Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., and Edgar Martinez, there are clearly no catchers. In the Mariners’ Hall of Fame, there is one catcher: current Mariners manager Dan “The Man” Wilson.
Seattle Mariners’ All-Time Top 5 Catchers
With that being said, let’s take a look at the five best catchers in Mariners history.
Honorable Mention: Omar Narvaez
In 2019, the production the Mariners got from their backstop duo of Omar Narvaez and Tom Murphy was unprecedented. Although he only spent one season in the Emerald City, Narvaez shined. He slashed .278/.353/.460 with 22 home runs and 55 RBI, putting up 2.2 WAR.
He wasn’t just shining in the batter’s box, either. In 98 games behind the plate, Narvaez put up a fielding percentage of .992 (and a fielding percentage of 1.000 in one inning at second base). He also caught 13 runners stealing. His trade to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 came as a shock to most fans.
5. Mike Zunino
To many, Mike Zunino’s time in Seattle is widely regarded as a failure. Zunino mainly made a name for himself with the Tampa Bay Rays. Once a top prospect, Zunino was an excellent defender, and few players had the power threat that he did. In six seasons, he only slashed .207/.276/.406, but he hit 95 home runs and had 241 RBI in that time. 95 is the most home runs by a catcher in franchise history.
Zunino was the quintessential home run or strikeout player, with a cannon of an arm and a commanding presence behind the backstop. His 2017 breakout year, in which he hit .251/.331/.509 with 25 home runs and 64 RBI, putting up 3.4 WAR, is one of the best by a Mariners backstop.
4. Tom Murphy
The other half of the 2019 sensational offensive duo, Murphy spent much of his tenure with the Mariners injured, only playing more than 50 games twice in his five years with the team. But when he did play he was on fire. Not known for his defensive ability, “The Murph” spent most of his time as a backup/DH. In 233 games with Seattle, Murphy slashed .250/.324/.460 with 38 home runs and 92 RBI.
Murphy frequently contributed to the team’s recent successes, hitting .303 in his 14 games in 2022 and .290 in 47 games in 2023. The Mariners have struggled to find a backup catcher to match his production since his departure.
3. Kenji Johjima
Johjima’s tenure in Seattle was short-lived, bursting onto the scene as a 30-year-old rookie in 2006. He played 462 games, playing more than 100 in three of his four seasons with the club before returning to Japan to close out his career. He contributed to a rich relationship between the Seattle Mariners and Japanese players.
His sudden jolt of life behind the plate in 2006, .291/.332/.451 with 18 home runs and 76 RBI was enough to garner him a 4th place finish in the 2006 AL ROTY voting. He only missed out behind some notable names (Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano). Slashing .268/.310/.411 with 48 home runs and 198 RBI during his time stateside, Johjima set the MLB record for most hits by a rookie catcher.
2. Dan Wilson
The only catcher in the Mariner’s Hall of Fame, Dan Wilson was the starting backstop in four of the club’s five playoff runs. He also leads Mariners catchers in RBI, hits, doubles, and triples, and is third in home runs with 88.
The Mariners manager is the only catcher in franchise history to be selected to an MLB All-Star game. Wilson controlled the Seattle backstop for 12 seasons, slashing .262/.309/.384, playing on some of the best teams the Mariners have seen. His 1,251 games with Seattle are more than any other catcher in the franchise’s history.
Wilson put up back-to-back 3 WAR seasons in 1996 and 1997, only bettered by current backstop Cal Raleigh. He leads all Mariners catchers in WAR with 13.5. He retired with a fielding percentage of .995, the highest of any catcher in the AL at the time. Both his leadership and ability to steady the ship in trying times are the reason the Mariners called upon him in their time of need in 2024. Wilson is a Mariners’ and Seattle sports legend alike.
1. Cal Raleigh
While Cal Raleigh’s career is still very young, there is no denying the influence he already has on the Mariners. Multiple starting pitchers have spoken in length about Raleigh’s contributions to their pitching and his leadership throughout the team. Raleigh, 28, won a Rawlings Platinum Glove in 2024 for his work and defense behind the plate, becoming the first Mariner to win the Platinum glove, and the first Mariners’ catcher to win both the gold and platinum gloves.
Raleigh isn’t known for his high average, but he is a consistent power threat, hitting more home runs than any catcher ever through their first four big-league seasons. Much like Zunino, his time in Seattle started slowly. He got sent back down in 2021 and only was recalled in early 2022 due to injuries. Power has led him to frequently come through for the Mariners and become a mainstay, even getting MVP votes in 2023 and 2024. His 4.7 WAR in 2024 is the best by a catcher in franchise history.
The call-up led to one of the most iconic moments in Mariners’ history when he broke the drought with a walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics, forever cementing his status as a Seattle sports legend and an obvious name in the Mariners lineup.
While the future is uncertain, Mariners fans can agree they want Cal Raleigh to be a Mariner for life.
Main Photo Credits: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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