The big bats and live arms poised to dictate the 2025 MLB season

The 2025 Major League Baseball season is here, kicking off a six-month regular season running from Opening Day through the dog days of summer and into the postseason.

Such a long season affords any number of storylines to follow. Here are 10 players who could become the most interesting to watch:

Shohei Ohtani, DH, Los Angeles Dodgers

Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Coming off history’s first 50-homer, 50 stolen bases season (officially, the count ended at a ridiculous 54-59), Ohtani is expected to complete his recovery from Tommy John surgery and return to the pitcher’s mound at some point this summer. On paper, the Dodgers’ starting pitching is already considered among the league’s best; add Ohtani, and are they a shoo-in for a second consecutive World Series berth?

Elly De La Cruz, SS, Cincinnati Reds

His unique combination of speed and power and his ability to minimize his weaknesses with each passing season makes the 6-foot-5 De La Cruz one of the most electric players to watch on any given day. This year, his challenge is not only to improve upon his 25 home runs and majors-leading 67 steals but also to reduce his league-leading 218 strikeouts. Remember: He’s only 23.

Tarik Skubal, SP, Detroit Tigers

The left-hander last season became just the eighth player since 2000 to win pitching’s Triple Crown by leading the American League with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. Skubal’s ERA has dropped and his win-loss percentage has risen every year of his five-season career, which raises the question of how much better he will be this year, when he has the opportunity to become the first AL pitcher to win consecutive Cy Young Awards since Pedro Martinez 25 years ago.

Justin Verlander, SP, San Francisco Giants

The oldest active player in baseball, Verlander, 42, has 262 career wins and is slowly closing in on the 24-member 300-win club. More immediately, he could actually make a difference this season in San Francisco. Verlander went 2-0 in spring training with a 3.43 ERA, with opponents hitting .263 off him. The Giants don’t need Verlander to carry the rotation — that is the responsibility of Logan Webb and Robbie Ray — but Verlander, who has said he hopes to pitch until he is 45, needs to help around the margins for the Giants to get out of a tough division.

Paul Skenes, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

On the other end of the age spectrum from Verlander is Skenes, who as only a rookie last season led all NL pitchers who threw at least 130 innings in strikeout rate and ERA, among other categories. Batters hit a measly .198 against Skenes, who was so good that he was the National League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. The question that will keep fans watching Pirates games this season is this: What kind of encore can follow that? Dwight Gooden’s 1985 season, in which he won the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award, remains the gold standard for second-year pitchers.

Luis Arraez, 2B, San Diego Padres

While San Diego’s playoff hopes rest on outfielder Fernando Tatís Jr.’s being healthy, getting Arraez to hit in the postseason like he has in the regular season could also be a postseason key. In an era when the primacy of on-base percentage has taken over the game, batting average isn’t everything. Yet it’s hard not to marvel that last season Arraez became the first player to win a third consecutive batting title with three different teams. He won it for the Padres last season by hitting .314, and he’s still a Padre this season, as well. If he wins it again, he would join a four-straight club that includes another Padre, Tony Gwynn.

Julio Rodríguez, OF, Seattle Mariners

He’s only 24, and his Rookie of the Year season in 2022, when he first flashed his MVP potential, wasn’t that long ago. And yet, Rodríguez hasn’t meaningfully taken that next step forward toward reaching that sky-high potential; he ended last season with 35 fewer RBIs and 12 fewer home runs than his previous season. Is this the season that working with Hall of Fame designated hitter Edgar Martínez, now a Mariners coach, will help Rodríguez move closer toward fully realizing his talent?

Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets

New York is buzzing because of Juan Soto’s $765 million switch from the Bronx to Queens, but Lindor might be an even more important piece for the Mets. He finished second in this spring’s MLB.com player survey ranking baseball’s best defenders, behind only Toronto’s Andrés Giménez. The naked eye agrees with the advanced statistics: Lindor has an enormous defensive radius, allowing him to get to balls other infielders can’t.

Dylan Crews, OF, Washington Nationals

Crews had an up-and-down introduction to the big leagues last season in 31 games. Yet there is a reason he is consistently ranked among the best prospects in MLB alongside players such as Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki. Entering Crews’ first official rookie season, the Nationals hope D.C. is more comfortable in D.C. after he looked much more comfortable at the plate during spring training.

Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

Once widely considered the game’s best player while he was leading the majors in on-base percentage four consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019, Trout has played more than 54 games just once since 2019. His injuries have not only sidelined one of MLB’s biggest stars but also left the Angels stuck in neutral.

The franchise last made the postseason in 2009, two years before Trout arrived. It’s trying to get back to the postseason through a tricky rebuild, one that hasn’t committed to fully bottoming out but also hasn’t attracted top free agents, while still paying Trout around $37 million annually. Considering how many games he has missed in recent seasons, getting a healthy Trout back would nearly qualify as a huge addition.