Edwin Díaz and MLB's Most Overhyped Stars for 2025 Season
A year ago, we ranked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. among the most overhyped stars coming into the season. No one was saying that Guerrero wasn't a good player, but after finishing second in 2021 AL MVP voting with a .311 batting average and 1.002 OPS, he hit .269 with an .804 OPS between 2022 and 2023.
Well, Vladdy Jr. responded with a monster 2024, hitting .323 with 30 home runs, 103 RBI and a .940 OPS, reasserting himself as a superstar and leaving this list in the dust.
So who comes in on this year's list of players who are good but perhaps not quite as productive as they are perceived to be? Here's six of baseball's most overhyped stars for 2025.
Luis Robert Jr.
1 of 6
Luis Robert Jr. hit 38 home runs, was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2023 for the White Sox. He was more than deserving of the recognition he received two years ago.
However, outside of the 145 games that Robert played in 2023, he's never played more than 100 games in a season. A year ago, he was limited to exactly 100 games, and still managed to strike out 141 times.
In theory, Robert should be one of the more intriguing trade chips available at the trade deadline this summer. Then again, he should have been last season too. Robert may always strike out more than you'd like, but he needs to prove he can stay on the field this year and re-establish himself as one of the game's elite center fielders.
Jonathan India
2 of 6
You'll never be able to take away the NL Rookie of the Year Award that Jonathan India won as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 2021. But that honor hasn't necessarily been indicative of the type of player India has been in the three seasons since.
Between 2022 and 2024, India hit .236 with a 100 OPS+—which is exactly league average—for the Reds. The Kansas City Royals, in desperate need for more offense around their stars, traded RHP Brady Singer for India over the winter. The problem is that entering this season, India had an .805 career OPS at Great American Ballpark, and a .722 OPS away from it.
To make matters worse, India is probably best suited to be a DH. In four seasons with the Reds, India posted minus-31 defensive runs saved and minus-23 outs above average at second base. He's seen some time at both third base and in left field to open the 2025 season, so perhaps he'll click at another defensive spot in a way he hasn't at his natural position.
In any event, while India is a Major League player, we don't have a ton of evidence to suggest he's much more than that, despite him being billed as a pretty big offseason addition for the Royals.
Xander Bogaerts
3 of 6
Xander Bogaerts won five Silver Slugger Awards during a decade playing with the Boston Red Sox, which earned him an 11-year, $280 million contract with the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Bogaerts was good, not great during his first season with the Padres in 2023, hitting .285 with a .790 OPS. For reference, in the two seasons prior to joining San Diego, Bogaerts hit .301 with an .848 OPS.
However, the Padres would probably sign up to get similar production from Bogaerts as they got in 2023 when you consider that a year ago he was limited to 111 games by a left shoulder fracture. In those 111 games, he disappointed at the plate, hitting .264 with a .688 OPS.
Bogaerts has never been a great defender at his natural position of shortstop, which he's moved back to after the departure of Ha-Seong Kim in free agency. Bogaerts' bat is his meal ticket and the Padres need him to rebound in a major way in 2025.
Justin Verlander
4 of 6
Justin Verlander is one of the greatest pitchers of all-time, one who has three AL Cy Young Awards and an MVP on his resume, with a plaque in Cooperstown long since assured.
But he's also 42 years old, and has logged more than 3,400 regular-season innings in his illustrious career. He's coming off of a season where a neck injury limited him to 17 starts with the Astros. He posted a 5.48 ERA over those outings, and was left off of Houston's ALWCS roster. So when new president of baseball operations Buster Posey gave Verlander $15 million this offseason, some eyebrows were definitely raised.
To his credit, Verlander was pretty serviceable in his first start of the season, scattering six hits and two runs over five frames against the Cincinnati Reds. If he proves to be an effective middle-of-the-rotation arm that provides the experience of, well, Justin Verlander, then this will be a signing that actually plays out pretty well.
But there's only so many innings your body can take, and the guess here is that Verlander's pretty close to that limit, if he hasn't already exceeded it. And even the greats eventually get rejected by their bodies.
Edwin Díaz
5 of 6
Edwin Díaz has two top-9 finishes in Cy Young Award voting in his career — 2018 as a member of the Seattle Mariners and 2022 with the New York Mets. That's a pretty remarkable accomplishment for a relief pitcher.
But while no one is denying that at his best Díaz is must-watch TV, his results outside of those two campaigns haven't been nearly as dominant. From 2019-2021, Díaz posted a 4.00 ERA across 155 appearances. He missed the entire 2023 season with a patellar tendon tear in his right knee, and then was underwhelming relative to expectations last season, finishing the campaign with a 3.52 ERA and seven blown saves over 54 games.
It's now been three years since Díaz's season for the ages where he finished the year with a minuscule 0.90 FIP in 61 appearances. With quite a few question marks in their starting rotation, the Mets need the superstar version of Díaz in 2025.
Sean Murphy
6 of 6
Sean Murphy is one of the better catchers in baseball when healthy, but he's missed his fair share of time since joining the Braves.
A year ago, Murphy suffered a left oblique strain that limited him to just 72 games. What's worse is that when he returned he wasn't a very productive offensive player, as he hit .193 with a .636 OPS.
Murphy has now opened 2025 on the injured list with a left ribcage fracture, a discouraging sign for a 30-year-old that's looking to bounce back from what essentially turned into a lost season.
Between giving up William Contreras to acquire him and that he's missing a good chunk of time for the second year in a row, it's definitely fair to have some reservations about Murphy moving forward.
