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Which players will define baseball in 2025?

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11 months ago

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Which players will define baseball in 2025?

Here’s a look forward at 2025 as we try to guess who will define Major League Baseball in the upcoming season. (Again, we’re looking only at players not featured in our 2024 list, linked above.)
But who will be the top names of 2025? Obviously, some will be the same. Who else though?
All right, this is cheating. We said at the top that we weren’t going to include anyone who made our list of the top players of 2024, and Ohtani was, of course, atop that list. But that was Ohtani the DH. He didn’t pitch, but he is going to this year, getting back to his jaw-dropping two-way feats. Man, can’t you just not wait?
The A’s have been a lot more aggressive this offseason than many might have anticipated, and you have to wonder if Butler’s emergence is one of the primary reasons why. After being sent back to the Minors on May 14, Butler returned to the big leagues in June and, thanks to some tweaks to his swing, was simply one of the best hitters in baseball for the next four months. Butler and Brent Rooker look like the new Bash Brothers, and Butler (a perfect 18-for-18 in stolen bases last year) might put up a 30-30 season in 2025.
So his rookie season did not quite turn out the way most of us, least of all the Orioles, thought it was going to. But let’s not forget just how heralded of a prospect Holliday was, just how much raw talent he has, and that he just turned 21. It’s going to break through at some point, and probably soon. While his younger brother, Ethan, is now MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Draft prospect for 2025, don’t be surprised if Big Brother is the one who makes everyone’s jaws drop this year.
It has been a while — a long while — since we saw deGrom over a full season. In fact, we’ve barely seen him at all lately, with just 41 innings in two seasons since signing with the Rangers. He hasn’t pitched more than 15 games since 2019. But we all still remember who this guy is when he’s healthy, right? deGrom finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting in ’21 despite pitching in only 15 games. (That 1.08 ERA helped.) His cameo at the end of ’24 (1.69 ERA over 10 2/3 innings) sets him up well for a normal offseason and a return to form in ’25, and if he can stay on the hill … well, he might just be the best pitcher in baseball. When deGrom is right, no one else is really all that close. That’s a big if. But it could happen.
The Tigers’ efforts to rebuild around young players have not all quite panned out — though there is still time for the likes of Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson — but Greene sure has. He put up All-Star numbers in 2024 — he and Kerry Carpenter have been the central drivers of this offense — and, at the age of 24, Greene is only getting better. These are exciting times for Detroit sports right now, and Greene is set up to be a Tigers centerpiece for the next half-decade. He’s also a blast to watch. He might be your favorite player; you just don’t know it yet.
J-Rod has been primed for an MVP season for a couple of years now, but it should be noted that he has taken steps backward since his spectacular debut in 2022. In both of the past two seasons, his batting average, OBP, slugging and WAR total all have dropped. Rodriguez is still the best hitter on the Mariners, though, and no one’s worried. It would be useful if the Mariners could get him a little lineup help, but more than anything else, you wonder if he’s going to make a power jump here in the next year or so after launching only 20 homers in 2024. J-Rod has played three full seasons and he’s still only 23 years old. We’ve seen what he can do when he’s on a hot streak. One of these days, he’s going to put that together for a full season.
The No. 2 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft made it up for 31 games in 2024 and didn’t quite take the Majors by storm, hitting .218 with only three homers. But you don’t have to squint to see Crews’ otherworldly talent. Crews basically does everything well, and now that his plate discipline is coming along, he and fellow Nats outfielder James Wood might be ready to help lead this team back toward serious contention. He’s the No. 1 MLB Pipeline prospect right now. He’ll be an All-Star any minute.
Will he be the best Cub since … peak Kris Bryant? Sammy Sosa? It remains to be seen if Tucker will remain at Wrigley Field beyond this season, but for 2025, he’s the superstar this fanbase has been waiting for. His arrival instantly makes the Cubs the favorites in the NL Central, and the regulars at the Friendly Confines are going to love him. For years we’ve been saying he’s underrated, underappreciated, even under-seen. That’s not going to be a problem when he’s wearing a Cubs uniform.
Mookie is headed back to shortstop this year, though it’s easy to lose track of what position he is even playing anymore. It’s funny how Betts — you know, the 2018 American League MVP, the almost-certain Hall of Famer, the three-time World Series champion — almost got lost this past season in Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani had his incredible season, Freddie Freeman became a postseason hero, and Betts missed 45 games in the middle of the 2024 season with a fractured left hand and was moving all over the field. There may be no more quintessential ballplayer than Betts, and here’s betting we see him for a lot more than 116 games in 2025. Maybe he’ll just go out and win another MVP Award.
In 2021, Guerrero had an MVP-quality season, and he’d have won the award if Shohei Ohtani hadn’t been out there, doing Ohtani things. But for all the excitement about Vlad Jr., he took steps back in ’22 and ‘23, to the point that many wondered if he’d ever reach those levels again. In ’24, he did: His OPS+ was 166, just below 2019’s 167, and he hit .323 on the season, the highest average of his career. As you have probably heard, he’s going to be a free agent after this year because the Blue Jays never did work out an extension with him. That means we’ll be talking about him essentially every day for eight months, once the season begins. And for good reason.
De La Cruz was an outstanding, but significantly flawed, player in 2023. He was even better, with fewer flaws, in ’24. What in the world is he going to be in ’25? De La Cruz can do anything on a ballfield, and he has shown the ability to improve upon his weaknesses. This makes sense: He is, after all, only about to turn 23 on Jan. 11 and figures to keep evolving and improving every year. I can only assume, by 2028, he’ll be able to fly. (And he’ll still be only 26.)
Chourio started last season as the youngest player in baseball — debuting on Opening Day just 18 days past his 20th birthday — and ended it that way as well. But while he began 2024 a little green and occasionally a little overwhelmed by big-league pitching, he finished it as the best hitter on a division-winning team. Chourio is the sort of superstar you build whole teams around, which is exactly what the Brewers are doing. (Don’t forget, he’s now under club control through 2033, thanks to an extension he signed before that debut.) Chourio may be repping the Brew Crew in the All-Star Game as soon as this year … and he may win an MVP Award before you’re quite ready for him to.
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No. 2 seed ASU volleyball advances to Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament

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32 minutes ago

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December 6, 2025

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Updated Dec. 5, 2025, 11:15 p.m. MT



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Babcock sets record as Pitt women’s volleyball team rolls in 1st round of NCAA Tournament

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48 minutes ago

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December 6, 2025

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Olivia Babcock didn’t realize her performance during the first round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament gave her the Pitt record for most kills in a season. Babcock knew she met the previous record holder, Wendy Hatlestad, during alumni weekend.

Babcock recorded 13 kills during the Panthers’ 25-10, 25-17, 25-13 win Friday night at Petersen Events Center in front of a crowd of 4,240. Babcock now has 558 kills, going past the single-season record of 555 Hatlestad set in 2003.

“I was talking to her two weeks ago,” Babcock said. “That’s crazy I just met her. But I think it says a lot about how much my team trusts me to take those big rips, and it gives me the opportunity to score and get as many kills as I do.”

Everyone had a good night hitting for the top-seeded Panthers, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 10th straight season.

The Panthers committed only four attack errors against UMBC (13-12) and finished with a hitting percentage of .551.

“It’s really good to start out and to remind ourselves to maintain high standards,” Babcock said. “Obviously, all of these teams have made it into the tournament because they’re an amazing team, and everyone’s going to bring their best volleyball. I think we just need to make sure that we’re playing our best, too, because, especially in these matches, we don’t wanna slip up and give away a set or a match.”

Pitt (27-4) hasn’t dropped a set in the first round since it beat VCU, 3-1, in 2017 at Penn State.

The Retrievers qualified for the tournament after winning the America East Conference for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Pitt setter Brooke Mosher, who finished with 34 assists, said the Panthers got themselves in system thanks to their good passing.

Blaire Bayless was second for the Panthers with nine kills, and Abby Emch contributed eight.

“That made it really easy for me to spread the ball around and get the middles involved,” Mosher said. “Then, I trusted my teammates to be able to put the ball away.”

Pitt lost the first point of the match after UMBC delivered on a kill by Jalynn Brown. The Panthers responded by scoring the next three points, capping the surge with an ace by Izzy Masten.

UMBC struggled to find holes in Pitt’s defense. The Retrievers hit .129 and were led by seven kills from Hannah Dobbs.

UMBC coach Kasey Crider was happy with how they played.

“We don’t have an Olivia Babcock slayer, so, bummer,” Crider said. “I’ve been to this tournament a few times as a head coach and assistant coach, and I’ve never walked away from the tournament thinking we were the best at the end until today. It still hurts, but there were no regrets.”

Pitt will take on Michigan in the second round Saturday. The Wolverines advanced by beating Xavier. The Panthers are 3-6 all-time against the Wolverines.

Pitt’s only meeting with Michigan in the NCAA Tournament came in 2018, when the Wolverines upset Pitt in five sets at Petersen Events Center.

Mosher, who previously played in the NCAA Tournament with Illinois, said she doesn’t feel any extra pressure playing as the No. 1 seed.

“I think just being in the tournament has its own weight in itself,” Mosher said. “Every game your season is on the line, which is the same no matter who you are.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.





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Kansas State volleyball vs Nebraska in NCAA Tournament channel, time

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2 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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Dec. 6, 2025, 6:03 a.m. CT



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Women’s track and field begins indoor season at M City Classic

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2 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women’s track and field team turned in 13 performances that ranked on its all-time performers’ list at the season-opening M City Classic on Friday at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.

First years accounted for 11 of the 13 performances that ranked on St. Olaf’s all-time list at the unscored meet, which included teams from the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and club levels. In addition to the top-10 list performances, senior Ella Landis posted St. Olaf’s lone first-place finish at the meet by winning the one-mile run in 5:17.28.

In her first collegiate meet, first year Evangeline Sappington broke onto the program’s all-time performers’ list in both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Sappington was the top Division III finisher and was 10th overall in the 200-meter dash (26.84), while also taking second among Division III competitors and 16th overall in the 60-meter dash. Sappington’s time in the 60-meter dash ranks second on the Oles’ all-time list – just four one-hundredths of a second off the record – and her time in the 200-meter dash is fifth.

Sophomore Izzi Jaeckle clocked in with St. Olaf’s No. 4 time in the 60-meter dash by placing 17th (8.10), while first year Ellie Semple also broke onto the list in 10th with a time of 8.28 seconds to finish 27th. Sophomore Logan Paulsen moved up to seventh on the Oles’ list with a sixth-place performance in the shot put (12.48m, 40′ 11 ½”), while first year Abigal Frei cleared 3.26 meters (10′ 8 ¼”) for a No. 5 all-time result and an eighth-place finish.

First years Svea Frantzich and Claire Stein recorded St. Olaf’s No. 8 and No. 10 scores in the pentathlon by finishing seventh (3,005) and eighth (2,993), respectively. Frantzich tied for third in the long jump (5.44m, 17′ 10 ¼”) and was sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.47), which both ranked on St. Olaf’s all-time list. Stein also tied for third in the long jump (5.44m, 10′ 10 ¼”) to highlight her day. First year Annika Walsh was the runner-up in the high jump (1.62m, 5′ 3 ¾”) – fifth all-time – and was seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (9.48) – ninth all-time – as part of a ninth-place finish in the pentathlon (2,881).

St. Olaf will be back in action in 2026 at the Ole Opener at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Tostrud Center.

 



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Second-Screen Golf Experiences : Player Profiles

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3 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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At the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship, IRCODE debuted Player Profiles, a new LIVE+ capability to bring fans closer to athletes without prompts, QR codes, or static triggers.

In addition to offering an on-site fan experience, IRCODE, as a Technology Partner, introduced an interactive viewer experience for fans at home. When players appeared on-screen, viewers used the IRCODE app to scan their screen and instantly accessed a full, interactive profile for shopping their favorite players’ gear, diving deeper into their stories and learning more about the causes that are meaningful to them.

Player Profiles leverages IRCODE’s patented EXACT Match technology and proprietary computer vision, and applies real-time visual recognition to usher in the next generation of second-screen entertainment.



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Catch Saturday’s Basketball and Indoor Track and Field Action

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4 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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BEREA, Ohio – Fans can follow or watch Saturday’s Baldwin Wallace University basketball and indoor track and field action via live results, statistics or video.

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams open the 2025-26 season when it travels to Cleveland to compete in the Spartan Alumni Holiday Classic hosted by Case Western Reserve University inside the Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center at 11:00 a.m.

Live Results: 

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3MlDQcr

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3KFq6st

The men’s basketball team travels to New Concord for the first game of a men’s and women’s Ohio Athletic Conference and Hoops for Hunger Food Drive doubleheader against Muskingum University on Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center at 1:00 p.m.  Fans can receive free admission to the game with a donation of canned food, a non-perishable item, or a monetary contribution.

Tickets:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3WGuwll

Live Statistics:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/493Gehq

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://flosports.link/47hSw2V

The No. 21 nationally ranked women’s basketball team travels to New Concord for the second game of a women’s and men’s Ohio Athletic Conference and Hoops for Hunger Food Drive doubleheader against Muskingum University on Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center at 4:00 p.m.  Fans can receive free admission to the game with a donation of canned food, a non-perishable item, or a monetary contribution.

Tickets:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3WGuwll

Live Statistics:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/49Ist7Q

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://flosports.link/4qu1Fyr

 



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