Each MLB season brings its share of surprises, both positive and negative. I mean, who expected Ronel Blanco to be a sub-3.00 ERA guy in 29 starts for the Houston Astros last season after being a fringe-MLB player prior? Who expected the New York Mets to make a run to the NLCS after starting the year 24-35? Who expected the Craig Counsell hire to have no impact on the Chicago Cubs' win-loss record?
This season, similarly, has brought its share of good and bad surprises. Here's a list of the ones that stick out.
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George Springer's career revival
George Springer slashed .220/.303/.371 with 19 home runs and 56 RBI last season. He was able to play in 145 games for the Toronto Blue Jays, but he looked like a shell of himself, as his career-worst 94 wRC+ would indicate. Well, at age 35, not only has Springer been able to bounce back, but he's had the best season of his career. No, seriously.
Springer is slashing .305/.395/.550 with 29 home runs and 78 RBI in 129 games played for the Jays this season. His 161 wRC+ ranks third in the majors behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh among qualified players - is that good? Here's a look at all Springer is accomplishing this season.
- 161 wRC+ is a career-high (previous high was 155 in 2019)
- First time hitting .300 (previous career-high was .292 in 2019)
- First time since 2019 with 29+ home runs
- First time ever without getting caught stealing (his 16 SB are also tied for second-most in a season in his career.
I must repeat - he's doing all of this at age 35, coming off his worst season. How? I have no idea, but it's been a pleasure to watch.
Brewers' shocking emergence
The Milwaukee Brewers have been one of the National League's most consistent teams over the last half-decade, but there were reasons to expect some decline in 2025. Not only did they seemingly overperform their talent level in 2024, but they lost both Willy Adames and Devin Williams, two All-Star contributors, over the offseason and they didn't exactly replace them with anybody notable.
Well, not only is there no decline, but this is the best the Brewers have looked within the last decade or even longer. At 92-59, Milwaukee has the best record in the majors and should be seen as legitimate threats to win it all.
We've been fooled by the Brewers countless times in October, but this year certainly feels different. I mean, the Brewers have always been good, but when have they been this good? It'll be interesting to see how they perform in the postseason now that they're on everybody's radar. Regardless, even getting to this position without Adames and Williams feels like a massive accomplishment.
Trent Grisham's breakout
Trent Grisham had a hard time cracking the lineup over Alex Verdugo, one of MLB's worst regulars last season, giving New York Yankees fans reason to believe that the organization would strongly consider non-tendering him over the offseason. Well, thankfully, the Yankees held onto Grisham, and he's rewarded them in a big way.
Grisham is slashing .238/.347/.465 with 31 home runs and 67 RBI. His defense might not be Gold Glove-caliber anymore, but he's been a staple at the top of the Yankees' batting order. Not only is he getting on base nearly 35 percent of the time, but the power production has been eye-popping.
Grisham has always had some power, but where did 31 home runs come from? His previous career-high was 17 with the San Diego Padres in 2022. He might double it by the season's end. For all of the talk about the short porch, Grisham's .907 OPS on the road is over 200 points higher than his .698 mark at home, and he's gone deep 19 times away from the Bronx compared to 12 at Yankee Stadium.
Grisham's breakout might be random in his seventh big league season, but it certainly looks legit.
Trea Turner's defense
We all know that Trea Turner is a gifted hitter, base stealer and even slider, but his defense has been one area of major concern, really since he signed his mega-deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. His defense at shortstop left so much to be desired to the point where there was real discourse surrounding moving him off the position entirely. It's safe to say those concerns can be put to bed now.
Year | OAA | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
2023 | -6 | 8th |
2024 | -3 | 25th |
2025 | +16 | 99th |
That is quite the contrast. Turner was abysmal in the field range-wise in 2023, was still well below-average in 2024, and all of a sudden, has become elite at age 32. Not only is Turner recording more outs than expected, but he's limiting the mistakes, too.
Year | Errors |
|---|---|
2023 | 23 |
2024 | 17 |
2025 | 8 |
Turner led the NL with 23 errors in 2023, was among the league leaders in 2024, and now, again, there has been a stunning transformation. He's essentially cut the errors in half in 2025, and he's done this while playing in 19 more games than he did last season.
Turner doing what he's done this year offensively isn't surprising in the slightest. Watching him thrive in the field is what could result in him being an NL MVP finalist.
Garrett Crochet's reliability
The Boston Red Sox took a risk, trading a slew of intriguing prospects in exchange for Garrett Crochet. The trade in itself was an easy one to make for a Red Sox team trying to win now with movable pieces in a loaded farm system, especially given Crochet's talent level, but who really knew what to expect from the southpaw?
Crochet was a deserving All-Star in 2024 and showcased his immense upside, but he was also limited the entire second half, not completing five innings in a single start down the stretch and posting a 5.12 ERA as well. Was he just a first-half wonder? Could he sustain a level of dominance over a full season?
Well, the oft-injured Crochet not only has a 2.63 ERA, but he's made 30 starts and leads the majors with 191.1 innings of work. He's gone at least seven innings in 13 of his starts, has completed eight frames three times, and even has a complete game shutout under his belt. Perhaps more impressively, Crochet has failed to complete five innings only once. He's been nothing short of an electric workhorse and a player who'd do anything to win.
We knew how good he could be, but watching him be this in his first season with the Red Sox has been eye-opening. It'd be one thing for him to make 20 starts and not go beyond six innings in any of them while also posting ridiculous strikeout and ERA numbers. Watching him take the ball every fifth day and consistently pitch into the sixth and seventh innings has been surprising and a big reason why the Red Sox are where they are right now.
Unexpected base stealers
Seeing guys like Jose Caballero, Elly De La Cruz and Jose Ramirez at or near the top of MLB's stolen base leaderboard is far from shocking, but there are a couple of shocking stolen base threats worth highlighting.
Juan Soto is a gifted player, but where did his stolen base prowess come from? He's tied for 10th in the majors in stolen bases with Victor Scott II, and he's been caught a total of three times. Let me rephrase — Soto, a player who ranks in the 14th percentile in sprint speed per Baseball Savant, is tied for 10th in the majors with the player who is tied for second in the majors in sprint speed. Soto is the first Met to record 40 home runs and 30 steals in a single season, and who knows, if he gets on base enough, perhaps he can push for 40/40. Not bad for a player whose previous career-high was 12 stolen bases.
Soto isn't the only unexpected player lighting up the stolen base category, though. Josh Naylor is another worth paying attention to, particularly lately. Naylor has 27 stolen bases in 29 tries, and perhaps more impressively, has 16 stolen bases in 16 tries since being acquired by the Seattle Mariners. Here's a look at the stolen base leaderboard since the trade.
Player | SB Since 7/25 |
|---|---|
Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 20 |
Juan Soto | 19 |
Josh Naylor | 16 |
This is quite the list. Seeing a speedster like Jazz Chisholm at the top of it isn't overly shocking, but then we have Soto and Naylor. Oh yeah, Naylor ranks in the second percentile in sprint speed. What is he doing on a list like this?
Stolen bases around the league have picked up over the last couple of years thanks to the new rules, but we hadn't really seen players like Soto and Naylor, who don't run well at all, steal bases like this.
Dodgers' normalcy
The Los Angeles Dodgers followed up their World Series title by arguably winning the offseason. From Tanner Scott to Kirby Yates to Blake Snell to Roki Sasaki, they made addition after addition and had seemingly fielded one of the most talented teams ever. I don't even think that was a stretch.
Well, there's a reason games aren't played out on paper. The Dodgers are still a very good team and lead the NL West by 2.0 games as of this writing, but they're far from the juggernaut they were supposed to be. I mean, barring a massive late-season push, the Dodgers won't even earn one of the two byes in the National League.
Durability is a real concern and the bullpen is a problem. The Dodgers could easily end up repeating as World Series champions, but it won't be nearly as easy for them to pull off as anyone expected. I don't even know if they should be considered clear-cut favorites, which, again, speaks to how underwhelming they've been when considering their preseason expectations.
The Dodgers being somewhat normal instead of a ridiculous juggernaut has been a pleasant surprise for the other 29 fan bases.
Shocking second-half declines from young stars
Two National League outfielders in particular — James Wood and Pete Crow-Armstrong — had ridiculous first halves. Wood was the only thing going right for the Washington Nationals, while Crow-Armstrong was probably the NL MVP favorite by the end of the first half.
In the second half, though, it's been a different story. Both Wood and PCA have really struggled, raising alarm bells.
James Wood first half: .278/.381/.534, 24 HR, 69 RBI, 12 SB, 27.6 percent strikeout rate
James Wood second half: .214/.296/.340, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB, 40 percent strikeout rate
Pete Crow-Armstrong first half: .265/.302/.544, 25 HR, 71 RBI, 27 SB, 22.9 percent strikeout rate
Pete Crow-Armstrong second half: .211/.265/.361, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 8 SB, 26.3 percent strikeout rate
The million dollar question must be asked here. What happened to these uber-talented outfielders? The short answer is I don't really know.
Did the Home Run Derby curse bite Wood? Did pitchers just figure him out? As for Crow-Armstrong, his advanced metrics never supported his first-half breakout, so he was always likely to fall back to earth some, but why have his numbers tanked this much? Has he simply been overworked?
Both of these players face immense pressure. Wood is the Nationals right now. He doesn't get many pitches to hit, and frankly, it's hard to play on such a bad team. Crow-Armstrong was out to prove his first half wasn't a fluke while also playing meaningful baseball on a Cubs team that hasn't had a great second half.
Both of these players are far too talented to carry these struggles into 2026, but it's been shocking watching them go from playing at an MVP-level to well below replacement level at the plate.
Aroldis Chapman's absurd dominance
Aroldis Chapman throwing as hard as he is in his age-37 season is impressive enough. Chapman putting together arguably the best season of his career and one of the best a Boston Red Sox reliever has ever had, though, has been shocking.
I thought the Red Sox made a mistake signing Chapman, particularly to pitch in high-leverage situations. Many Red Sox fans agreed. Even the wildest optimists couldn't have expected this, though. I mean, Chapman has a 1.26 ERA in 63 appearances and 57.1 innings of work. He has converted 30 saves in 32 tries. He has a 38.7 percent strikeout rate while also carrying a career-low 6.6 percent walk rate.
The most impressive part of Chapman's season has been his sheer dominance. He went 17 appearances and 14.2 innings from late July to early September without allowing a single hit. He had 21 strikeouts compared to four walks in that stretch. Chapman went essentially a month and a half without allowing a single hit. He threw one no-hitter and was more than halfway through a second when going by his innings. How ridiculous is that?
Those wondering why the Red Sox have been so good even without Rafael Devers, it has to do with their games essentially being over after eight innings. Chapman doing this after not even being able to stick as the Pittsburgh Pirates' closer last season is just ridiculous.
Braves' demise
I was wrong. That's all there is to it. I thought the NL East would be a three-team race, and I thought that if any of the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets or Philadelphia Phillies would fall out of contention, it would've been the Phillies. I thought the Braves had the best roster in the NL East. Boy, was I wrong.
Yes, injuries, as was the case in 2024, have played a significant role. Not a single team other than maybe the Dodgers can possibly withstand what the Braves have had to go through, particularly on the starting pitching front. With that being said, even when this team was healthy, they weren't quite clicking.
Marcell Ozuna, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies have all had remarkably inconsistent and overall underwhelming seasons offensively. Even when Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr. were healthy, they weren't producing like the superstars they're capable of. Jurickson Profar's 80-game PED suspension didn't help either. The only position player who has really lived up to his end of the bargain has been Matt Olson.
On the pitching front, injuries have really hurt, particularly in the rotation, but Spencer Strider doesn't look like himself, and the bullpen has been mostly a mess. Nobody really expected Raisel Iglesias to have the first-half struggles he did, but Braves fans were concerned with Alex Anthopoulos' lack of urgency to add to the bullpen to begin with.
The Braves are 69-83. They have the fourth-worst record in the National League. Even the biggest Braves pessimist couldn't have expected that. They have the talent to bounce back, but the best days of this core might also just be behind them. 2026 should be fascinating.
Cal Raleigh's MVP-caliber leap
Cal Raleigh has been a really underrated player for a while now. In fact, he was so good in 2023 and 2024 that he received down-ballot MVP votes. 30+ home run-hitting catchers who also play the position really well are really hard to find.
While Raleigh has long been a really good and underrated player, who expected this? Who expected him to hit more home runs in a single season than any other primary catcher in MLB history? Who expected him to break Mickey Mantle's record for most home runs in a single season by a switch-hitter? Who expected him to tie Ken Griffey Jr.'s record for most home runs hit in a single season by a Seattle Mariner?
I thought Raleigh was who he was - a really nice, underappreciated player who'd never quite take the leap to stardom. His 56-home run, 118 RBI campaign suggests otherwise. I don't think he should win the AL MVP award, but that's only because Aaron Judge exists. Raleigh is having a season to remember, and it's come out of nowhere.
Blue Jays' bounce back
Vibes were at an all-time low for the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays. They just wrapped up a wildly disappointing 74-88 campaign in 2024, and while they were able to get players like Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez, Max Scherzer and Jeff Hoffman, did anyone think this team was notably better? I mean, the stories of their offseason revolved around their inability to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the team missing out on big-name stars like Juan Soto and Roki Sasaki.
Well, the Jays have completely flipped the script. At 89-62, the Jays are closing in on their first AL East title since 2015, and they have the No. 1 seed in the AL as well. What's been most impressive about their season though has been the fact that their emergence has been because of players who were already there.
Santander has missed most of the season with injury and was a non-factor when healthy. Gimenez is fine, but nothing special overall. Scherzer has missed significant time with injury. Hoffman has been incredibly shaky as the closer.
Contributions from the newly minted $500 million man (Guerrero), major bounce backs from the likes of Springer, Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk, and breakout showings from guys like Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes have proven to be instrumental.
Making it to the playoffs would've been impressive enough for the Jays. Having the season they've had and going on the run they're primed to embark on has been incredibly impressive and something not many could've expected.