Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is in the midst of a historic slump, and it's raising eyebrows across baseball. On Monday, the Mariners topped the Houston Astros 3-1 for their third win in five games, but the spotlight fell squarely on their struggling slugger. Raleigh, the reigning American League MVP runner-up, went hitless for the ninth straight game, extending his drought to 0 for 34—the longest hitless streak in the majors this season.

This isn't just any cold spell. Raleigh's 0-for-34 skid is the longest in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) for a player coming off a 40-homer season, surpassing Jason Giambi's 0-for-32 stretch with the 2004 New York Yankees. He's also closing in on the Mariners' franchise record for consecutive hitless at-bats, held by Jarred Kelenic (0 for 42 in 2021). Hard to believe for a player who launched 60 home runs last year.

"I'm trying to get there," Raleigh told the Seattle Times over the weekend. "Honestly, it's not been great. It's been really ugly. I'm trying to do my best to just compete up there."

The numbers paint a grim picture. Through 42 team games—more than a quarter of the season—Raleigh is slashing just .157/.238/.320 with a .559 OPS, ranking 168th among 177 qualified hitters. He's struck out 16 times during the hitless streak alone. An oblique issue sidelined him for three games earlier this month, but that minor injury doesn't explain the prolonged struggles. Raleigh was already in a funk before his side started barking.

Dig into the underlying metrics, and the red flags are everywhere. Raleigh is chasing pitches outside the zone too often, and when he does swing at strikes, he's missing at an alarming rate. His hard-hit rate—the percentage of batted balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more—ranks 161st among qualified hitters, trailing soft-contact specialists like Caleb Durbin (30.6%) and TJ Friedl (29.8%). Only five qualified hitters are making less contact on pitches in the zone. That combination of whiffs and weak contact is a recipe for disaster.

Despite the struggles, Raleigh remains focused on the mental side of the game. "For me, it's more on the mental side than it is trying to physically change something," he said. "I'm just trying to battle and compete, and not worry about the rest of the stuff and try to get back to being more process-oriented."

For Mariners fans and fantasy owners alike, the hope is that Raleigh can rediscover his form soon. But with each hitless game, the pressure mounts—and the history books keep getting rewritten.