Are we on the cusp of crowning a new home run king in Major League Baseball?
Out of nowhere, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh is swinging with the big dogs. He leads the sport in home runs (35), smashing more dingers than both Aaron Judge (33) and Shohei Ohtani as of July 7 (30).
Where will Raleigh land in his quest for his first home run title?
Let’s check out the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of July 7.
Cal Raleigh regular season total home runs
Over 73.5: +11000 (bet $10 to win $1,110)
Cal Raleigh regular season total home runs
Over 62.5: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Under 62.5: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
First, the all-time single-season record of 73.
Raleigh is nowhere near favored to approach that mark, set by Barry Bonds in 2001. In order to break that record, the Seattle slugger would need to hit 39 homers in the next 72 games.
Not impossible, but highly unlikely.
As for the American League record, Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022, breaking Roger Maris’ previous record of 61, which he accomplished back in 1961.
Raleigh would have to go deep 28 times in the next 72 games to pass Judge.
The 28-year-old Seattle catcher has been a revelation in the Pacific Northwest this season. He was named an All-Star for the first time, and is tied for second in Major League Baseball with 74 RBIs.
In terms of his home run numbers, he hit two in 2021 (rookie year), 27 in 2022, 30 in 2023 and 34 last season, a number he has already surpassed prior to the All-Star Game.
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While Raleigh only has two home runs in the month of July, he had 11 in June and 12 in May. He is currently second in slugging (.640), second in OPS (1.021) and third in WAR (4.7).
Lastly, in terms of the favorite to lead MLB in homers, Judge is still at the top of the oddsboard at -160, with Raleigh right behind at +150 and Ohtani at +475.
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