5 early-season MLB surprises — and why they’re occurring

We’re six weeks into the 2025 MLB season, lengthy sufficient to assemble some significant intel however brief sufficient to marvel how a lot of it truly issues.

Pete Alonso has gone from undesirable free agent to MVP front-runner, just one staff within the usually mighty American League East boasts a profitable report, and among the sport’s finest closers — Devin Williams, Alexis Díaz, Ryan Pressly and Emmanuel Clase, particularly — are all of the sudden not.

These are only a few of the notable surprises by way of the primary 23% or so of this season. Beneath are 5 others, and the explanations behind them.

Spencer Torkelson is all of the sudden hitting like a No. 1 choose

Spencer Torkelson was the Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 draft pick of Arizona State College in 2020, billed as a can’t-miss bat. The 2024 season was purported to be the stage for his breakout. As an alternative, he discovered himself again within the minor leagues.

Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch texted Torkelson virtually every day after the staff despatched him all the way down to Triple-A in June. At one level, the 2 even met up for breakfast. Hinch wished to guarantee Torkelson that the Tigers have been eager about him and nonetheless valued him. However what Torkelson may need wanted most, a few of these round him consider, was to see the staff succeed with out him. He wanted the urgency to alter.

“Popping out of school, I felt like I had it discovered, was the best hitter ever,” Torkelson mentioned. “And I acquired humbled.”

Torkelson struggled so profoundly final yr — a .669 OPS, 10 homers and 105 strikeouts in 92 video games — that he entered 2025 and not using a clear path for taking part in time. Now, early in his age-25 season, he appears like the dreaded hitter so many anticipated to see. Via 36 video games, Torkelson has already equaled final yr’s house run complete. He is drawing walks at a considerably increased price, OPS’ing .879 and rating inside the high 5% in anticipated slugging proportion — a stat through which he completed 211th amongst 252 hitters final yr.

Torkelson entered this season with a 361-game pattern of inconsistency, however scouts do not see his sudden success as an early-season fluke — they see it as the results of an elite hitter making consequential changes.

Torkelson is extra athletic and in rhythm in his stance this yr, whereas beforehand he seemed “statuesque,” within the phrases of 1 Tigers supply. He has extra bend in his knees, vegetation his ft nearer collectively and has applied a slight crouch. But it surely’s probably not a change. It is how he hit proper up till the time he reached the majors.

“You watch any swing in my complete life,” Torkelson mentioned, “I kinda look precisely the way in which I look proper now.”

The taller stance Torkelson fell into on the huge league degree was what he described as “a Band-Assist.” The excessive fastball gave him hassle early on, so Torkelson did what felt apparent: make that top fastball appear much less excessive.

“And it labored,” Torkelson mentioned. “I acquired away with it. I hit 31 homers and I did not even really feel that nice.”

However these 31 house runs, accrued in his second yr in 2023, masked different deficiencies that confirmed up the next summer season. Torkelson slashed simply .205/.271/.337 by way of the top of Could in 2024. Shortly after, he was despatched again to Triple-A for what turned an 11-week stint. He returned in mid-August, produced a extra respectable .781 OPS over his final 38 regular-season video games, then went into the offseason vowing to hit the way in which he used to. He took a lesson from learning one in all his favourite hitters, Mike Trout, who has constructed a Corridor of Fame profession regardless of struggling towards the excessive fastball.

“We do not receives a commission to hammer the excessive fastball,” Torkelson mentioned. “We receives a commission to hammer the errors.”

The Tigers signed veteran second baseman Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal in late December, then introduced Colt Keith would transfer to first base. Torkelson got here into spring coaching having to battle simply to get at-bats at designated hitter.

Then every little thing modified. Torkelson hit his manner right into a beginning function at first base in 31 of the Tigers’ 36 video games. His manufacturing — together with that of Javier Baez, who has produced an .827 OPS whereas transitioning to middle discipline — has given the Tigers some much-needed right-handed energy and helped them climb to the highest of the AL Central.

“I am seeing the ball higher, and I really feel harmful on the plate,” Torkelson mentioned. “As a hitter, that is all you possibly can ask for. You are not going to hit 1.000. However while you’re feeling harmful and also you’re seeing the ball effectively, you’re feeling like you possibly can’t be beat. You are going to get beat, but it surely offers you the perfect shot.”

The Angels’ lineup is trending towards the worst kind of historical past

Final yr, the lowly offenses of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox posted two of the 12 worst walk-to-strikeout ratios in main league historical past. Now the Los Angeles Angels, who entered 2025 with hopes of lastly being aggressive once more, are making an early run on the all-time mark.

The Angels’ offense has accrued 81 walks by way of its first 35 video games this season, the bottom complete within the majors. Their hitters have struck out 338 occasions (third most). Earlier than tying their season excessive with six walks in a walk-off win on Wednesday evening, their 0.23 walk-to-strikeout price was on tempo to be the worst in baseball historical past. It has since improved to a mere 0.24, tied with the 2019 White Sox for the bottom ever.

It is in all probability not stunning to study that the full-season backside 10 in that class has taken place over the previous dozen years, at a time when hitters strike out extra typically than ever. It is in all probability additionally not stunning to study that seven of these 10 groups misplaced no less than 100 video games.

The Angels’ offense has been that dangerous. Since placing up 11 runs on the spring coaching facility the place the Tampa Bay Rays play on April 10, they rank twenty ninth in batting common, twenty seventh in slugging proportion, and final in every of the next classes: on-base proportion, strikeout price, stroll price and runs per sport.

And although there’s nonetheless loads of time to show this round, it is onerous to examine how that traditionally low walk-to-strikeout price — an vital barometer of success on each side — considerably improves. (Their pitching strikeout-to-walk price, ranked twenty seventh at 1.90, is not a lot better.)

On Tuesday, the Angels have been pleased to welcome again Yoan Moncada, who’s able to drawing walks but in addition strikes out at an exceedingly excessive price. A return from Mike Trout, whose newest knee harm is just not thought-about severe, will surely assist, although he reached base at solely a .264 clip throughout his first 29 video games. Taylor Ward, in the meantime, is a lot better than a .180/.225/.376 hitter.

However then there’s Jo Adell, whose profession .639 OPS ranks one centesimal among the many 114 gamers in Angels historical past with no less than 1,000 plate appearances. And Logan O’Hoppe, who had the fifth-highest strikeout price within the majors final yr. And Jorge Soler, a prodigious energy hitter who naturally carries loads of swing-and-miss. And, notably, Kyren Paris, who seemed like a breakout star early on however recently appears overmatched; since a two-hit sport put his OPS at 1.514 on April 11, Paris has eight hits, three walks and 32 strikeouts in 66 plate appearances.

The Angels’ coaches have been attempting to emphasise a two-strike method with their hitters, however there’s solely a lot they will do.

“Whenever you’ve acquired guys that is able to hitting the ball out the ballpark, it is onerous to inform them to chop their swing down as a result of they do not know what that’s,” Angels supervisor Ron Washington mentioned. “And while you’ve acquired guys within the lineup that do not have loads of expertise and also you say, ‘Reduce the swing down,’ they do not know what that’s. There’s loads of baseball to be gathered round right here, man.”

Washington paused for a second and smiled. Earlier than being employed by the Angels in November 2023, Washington spent seven years because the third-base coach and infield teacher on Atlanta Braves groups brimming with veteran, championship-caliber gamers. This Angels staff is just not that. It is younger and inexperienced, and Washington has to remind himself of that consistently.

He’s a instructor at coronary heart, and sometimes that requires persistence. His is being examined like by no means earlier than.

The Brewers’ injury-riddled rotation has by some means discovered a manner

Three Milwaukee Brewers beginning pitchers — DL Corridor, Tobias Myers and Aaron Ashby — landed on the injured checklist with soft-tissue accidents throughout spring coaching. Two extra, Aaron Civale and Nestor Cortes, went on the shelf inside the common season’s first week. By that time, the checklist of beginning pitchers on the IL stretched to seven. And but, in probably the most Brewers manner attainable, their rotation adopted with a miraculous run.

From April 6-22, the foursome of Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester mixed for a 1.55 ERA over 63⅔ innings. The Brewers started the season by permitting 47 runs in 33 innings, however since then, their beginning rotation boasts the fifth-lowest ERA within the majors at 3.08.

Peralta is a bona fide top-of-the-rotation starter, however Quintana is a 36-year-old who signed for a mere $4 million in March; Priester is a failed first-round choose acquired in a minor commerce early final month; and Patrick is a 26-year-old rookie who wasn’t on anyone’s radar when the season started.

However the Brewers have constructed a repute for using pitchers who overachieve. As a result of they cannot afford the high-ceiling arms who break the bank in free company, they hammer their depth to boost their flooring as a lot as attainable. And to take action, they apply a easy idea: develop and purchase pitchers who match their surroundings. Extra particularly, pitchers who profit most from a powerful infield protection.

Quintana, who can throw his sinker with extra conviction with higher protection behind him, posted a 1.14 ERA in his first 4 begins earlier than permitting six runs to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Patrick, who boasts an elite cutter with two totally different shapes, has a 3.08 ERA in his first seven turns by way of the rotation. Priester, the 18th choose in 2019, had a 6.23 ERA in 99⅔ main league innings heading into 2025. However the Brewers have been intrigued by a minor league monitor report through which he had roughly common strikeout and stroll charges and saved greater than half the batted balls towards him on the bottom. Priester maintained a 1.93 ERA by way of his first three begins earlier than permitting 12 runs over his subsequent 9⅓ innings.

That tough patch apart, Priester helped stabilize a Brewers rotation that was in dire straits when the season started. A key reinforcement may come by the top of this week, when Brandon Woodruff makes his long-awaited return from shoulder surgical procedure. Woodruff has been totally wholesome, pitching with out restrictions, however his velocity has been down, his fastball sitting within the 92- to 94-mph vary versus the upper-90s warmth he featured whereas pitching like an ace. When Woodruff returns, he may need to pitch otherwise.

The Brewers will in all probability determine it out.

The subsequent hitting star on the Rays is definitely … Jonathan Aranda?

The Tampa Bay Rays exceeded their worldwide bonus pool in 2014, proscribing them to signing gamers for not more than $300,000 over the following two years. And but, main as much as the 2015 signing interval, assistant basic supervisor Carlos Rodríguez and then-international scouting supervisor Eddie Díaz traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to look at a Cuban outfielder they might not afford: Randy Arozarena.

The journey proved to be useful years later, when the Rays acquired Arozarena from the St. Louis Cardinals and helped him turn into a star. But it surely was useful for one more motive: It helped them uncover Jonathan Aranda.

Rodríguez, at the moment the director of Latin American scouting, requested Díaz to line up different prospects to see in the course of the journey. Aranda was in that group and caught their eye. The Rays signed him for $130,000 in July 2015. Ten years later, they’re watching him blossom.

Aranda, a 26-year-old left-handed hitter, ranks third with 182 weighted runs created plus this season, behind solely Aaron Decide and Alonso. He is slashing .317/.417/.554 with 14 extra-base hits. And up to now, no less than, he is stealing the highlight from Junior Caminero, extensively hailed because the Rays’ subsequent hitting phenom. It is easy to be skeptical — Aranda’s .971 OPS is 279 factors increased than his profession mark in 110 video games going into 2025 — however those that know him finest are adamant that that is actual.

Aranda has at all times been an elite hitter. The query was how the Rays would match him into their main league roster. He got here up as a shortstop at across the identical time Wander Franco surged by way of the system. By the point he was on the cusp of the most important leagues, the likes of Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes, Brandon Lowe and Ji-man Choi occupied the opposite infield positions.

At one level, the Rays had Aranda strive catching in hopes of getting his bat to the massive leagues faster. They felt he may need the arm and the palms for it. Aranda went again to Mexico and caught a handful of bullpen periods however determined towards it. He expressed confidence that his bat would ultimately be sufficient to succeed in the majors.

It seemed like it could in 2024. Aranda slashed .371/.421/.571 in 13 Grapefruit League video games that spring and was primed to crack the Opening Day roster. However then he broke his proper ring finger fielding a grounder, missed about 5 weeks and struggled for many of the ensuing season. It prompted a stint in winter ball, the place he made small mechanical tweaks which have helped him thrive within the early a part of 2025.

However principally, Rays officers consider, Aranda’s success stems from lastly having a pathway for constant enjoying time, largely because the stronger half of a DH platoon. His splits are fairly drastic — 1.066 OPS towards righties, three hits in 18 at-bats towards lefties — however Aranda profiles as a 20-plus house run hitter who can rack up doubles and management the strike zone. It simply took him a bit to get there.

Max Muncy all of the sudden cannot hit house runs

Max Muncy went 106 plate appearances earlier than lastly hitting his first house run of 2025 on the ultimate day of April. It marked the longest single-season homerless streak of his profession, simply topping the 80-plate-appearance rut from 2022, in line with ESPN Analysis.

His largest challenge was one which plagues many left-handed hitters who throw right-handed.

“He will get out on his entrance facet fairly shortly,” Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates defined. “A part of the problem for him is when he wants to start out his leg kick and find out how to preserve stability as he is striding ahead. As a result of he throws together with his proper hand and hits lefty, the best facet of his physique form of dominates his swing shifting towards the pitcher, which is fairly frequent for lots of fellows. You have a look at Corey Seager, he is fairly balanced. However loads of occasions, when you could have a lefty-righty-combo man, they get form of pulled that manner. In order that’s one thing that he has to consistently battle, and he has his complete profession. When he is synced up and he is proper, it is nice. And when he is out of whack, he is set to work to get it proper.”

Muncy spent the higher a part of the primary month working to sync up his timing, particularly when he drives his momentum ahead. Few main league hitters keep on their again facet by way of their complete load, Aaron Decide being a notable exception. However for many of this season, Muncy was attending to his entrance facet too early, which resulted in fouling off hittable fastballs and struggling towards breaking pitches.

“When you do not belief your self as a hitter, you do not wanna get beat, and so that you get off your bottom sooner,” Bates mentioned. “So it is just like the rooster or the egg.”

When Muncy settled into the batter’s field within the second inning on April 30, 305 gamers had already homered within the main leagues this season. Muncy, with 4 35-plus-homer seasons on his résumé, was not one in all them. That day, he debuted prescription eyeglasses he had been testing out throughout pregame exercises to fight astigmatism in his proper eye. The hope, Muncy advised reporters, was that the glasses would make him much less left-eye dominant.

However the largest challenge was a swing he had tweaked to supply low line drives as a substitute of fly balls however wound up making him drift ahead too early. Getting his weight shift again to regular proved to be a gradual course of. However to Bates, an encouraging signal arrived two days earlier than Muncy’s first house run — when he stayed again on a sinker and dumped an opposite-field line drive into left-center.

Muncy has produced simply the one house run — placing him in the identical boat as Alec Bohm, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts, and one forward of Joc Pederson, Tommy Pham and Gabriel Moreno — and nonetheless does not appear totally in sync. However he is carrying a barely extra respectable .750 OPS for the reason that begin of that sport on April 30. He is drawing walks, displaying some energy, and in some unspecified time in the future, Bates believes, the house runs will are available bunches.

“It may be any at-bat,” Bates mentioned, “he is homering.”