One season after Cal Raleigh set the Mariners franchise record with 60 home runs and finished second in AL MVP voting, the star catcher's numbers have completely fallen off a cliff. And he knows that, obviously.
It's gotten to the point where the stunning drop-off in performance is being used as trash talk.
During Wednesday's game between the Tigers and Mariners, Raleigh took a 95 mph fastball to the midsection from Enmanuel De Jesus in the seventh inning. But with two strikes on Raleigh in a three-run game, there was no way that De Jesus had any intent to hit Raleigh. The drama should have ended there.
Still, the Mariners decided to protect Raleigh the next half inning, and Gabe Speier hit Gleyber Torres after missing his first attempt inside. Torres wasn't happy. And as Raleigh tried to intervene, Torres appeared to redirect his frustration to Raleigh.
Torres seemingly told Raleigh, "At least I have hits." Raleigh is batting .162 this season with just 12 home runs. He was hitless on Wednesday night as well.
Benches ended up clearing after Torres brought up Raleigh's stats. But cooler heads would prevail after Speier and Dan Wilson were ejected. On Thursday, Speier got hit with a three-game suspension. Wilson was suspended for one game.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Gleyber Torres appeared to mock Cal Raleigh's brutal season before benches cleared
