MLB's Biggest Winners and Losers from Week 1 of 2025 Season

The first week of the 2025 MLB season is in the books.

Bat manufacturers flooded with orders for "torpedo bats" are probably the biggest winners from the opening week of the season, as something most fans hadn't heard of a week ago has become the most discussed topic in the sport.

Who else has had a good week? Who needs to turn things around?

Here's a look at the biggest winners and losers from the opening week of the 2025 MLB campaign.

Winner: Kyle Tucker

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The Cubs are winners for acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros over the winter. But the three-time All-Star—who is in a contract year—is an even bigger winner, because it appears he's going to put together a monster campaign en route to getting a megadeal next offseason.

After what was a relatively underwhelming spring, Tucker has hit the ground running in the regular season. In his first eight games, he clubbed four home runs and drove in 11 runs for a Cubs team that has playoff aspirations:

Even though he has yet to play a home game at Wrigley Field, Tucker has already become a fan favorite on the North Side. That may force the Ricketts family to pony up for him this winter. If not, plenty of other clubs should be willing to.

Loser: Jurickson Profar

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Jurickson Profar has played only four games for the Atlanta Braves, but they may already regret giving him a three-year, $42 million contract last offseason.

Profar was suspended 80 games on Monday for testing positive for the banned substance hCG:

Profar had a career year last season with the San Diego Padres, making his first All-Star Game appearance in his age-31 season. Despite what he said in his apology, it's now hard not to wonder whether he did that naturally.

Profar will be back later this season, but even if the Braves make the playoffs, he won't be eligible to compete. Players suspended at any point of the season for performance-enhancing drugs aren't able to participate in the postseason.

While the Braves seemingly had a top-five roster coming into the season, Profar's suspension is part of a nightmarish first week for Atlanta that begs the question of whether they're indeed a lock to be playing in October.

Winner: Aaron Judge

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Aaron Judge doesn't need your torpedo bat.

Judge—who has won AL MVP in two of the last three seasons—has picked up right where he left off last season. The six-time All-Star hit four home runs in his first four games, including a three-dinger game before the calendar even flipped to April:

If you need more context about the historic pace that Judge is on, consider this:

Between 2022 and 2024 alone, Judge hit 157 home runs. Based on his first few games this year, it looks like one of the greatest power stretches in MLB history will be continuing for at least another season.

Loser: Rafael Devers

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This spring, the Boston Red Sox had to talk Rafael Devers into moving off third base full-time upon the arrivals of Alex Bregman and Kristian Campbell. If there was ever a time where it would have been beneficial for him to get off to a quick start, it was this year.

Instead, Devers—who is now a full-time DH—struck out 15 times and recorded zero hits through his first five games of the 2025 season.

The two-time Silver Slugger winner is too gifted of a hitter for a slump like this to continue for much longer. However, some hitters do struggle to adjust their routine once they are no longer playing a defensive position. Given how frustrated he was to be moving off third base, it's fair to wonder if he's having trouble getting acclimated just to being a hitter.

While the vibes are generally positive around the Red Sox right now, it bears watching whether things are going to come to a head with Devers after the 2025 season.

Winner: Eugenio Suárez

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How did Eugenio Suárez follow up winning the NL Player of the Week in what was actually less than a week's worth of games? By hitting a go-ahead grand slam for the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday:

It's been quite the start for Suárez, who struggled out of the gates last season, hitting .216 with just a .668 OPS in his first half with the Diamondbacks. However, Suárez was one of the best hitters in baseball after the All-Star break, crushing 20 home runs while hitting .307 and posting a .942 OPS.

The Snakes picked up his $15 million club option for 2025 after that big second half and have immediately been rewarded for it.

Loser: Minnesota Twins

Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images

Carlos Correa

The Twins' offense is built around a core of Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton. That's a talented group, but it has durability concerns.

Buxton led that trio with 102 games played last year. Now, Lewis is already on the injured list with a left hamstring strain that he suffered late in spring training.

Buxton and Correa are healthy right now, but neither has looked good to start the season. Buxton is hitting just .118 after five games, while Correa has zero hits in his first 17 at-bats this season.

The Twins are off to a 1-4 start, and that's with two of their three injury-prone stars currently in the lineup. In a division that produced three playoff teams last season, Minnesota needs to turn things around in relatively short order.

Winner: San Diego Padres

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Jackson Merrill

Not only do the Padres look smart for not re-signing Jurickson Profar this offseason, but they also reached a long-term extension with Jackson Merrill—last year's NL Rookie of the Year runner-up—on Wednesday. They gave him a nine-year, $135 million deal with a club option for a 10th season, which will likely prove to be team-friendly since Merrill is only 21 years old.

Things are going pretty well for the Friars on the field, too.

The Padres won each of their first six games with the Big Three of Merrill, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. all off to quick starts. Imagine what this offense is going to look like when three-time batting champion Luis Arrárez gets out of his early-season slump.

The only problem is that even with a 6-0 start, the Padres are a half-game behind the 7-0 Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. But right now, they've done a good job of controlling what they can control.

There will come a time where the Padres have to put up or shut up against the Dodgers, but they're off to an incredible start in their own right.