The Most Improved Player on Every MLB Roster in 2025
For all of the individual awards in Major League Baseball—Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year, etc.—it's weird that there's no hardware given out for Most Improved Player, right?
Guess it's up to us to identify the MIP of each of the 30 squads.
For the most part, these are players who have blossomed into borderline (or even sure-fire) All-Stars for the first time in their careers, raising their OPS or lowering their ERA drastically.
However, there are also a handful of bounce-back improvements on the list, as well as the likes of Seattle's Cal Raleigh or Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong leveling up from "pretty good" to "MVP caliber."
Teams are broken up by division and presented in alphabetical order within each.
American League East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles: 2B Jackson Holliday
Holliday was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft and feverishly raked his way through the minors to enter last season as one of the favorites to win AL Rookie of the Year. So, while it's hardly a surprise that he's providing some actual value this season, his respectable .712 OPS has been a drastic improvement upon his .565 mark in what was a similar number of games played in 2024. At least one thing about this Orioles season has been a step in the right direction.
Boston Red Sox: C Carlos Narváez
When Boston traded Single-A pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool space for Narváez in December, MLB Trade Rumors' take was: "Narváez is now the favorite for the backup job by default, though the Sox will probably look for a more established veteran in the coming months." Perfectly reasonable stance to take on a 26-year-old who was 3-for-13 in the majors to that point in his career, but Narváez has emerged as a legitimate AL Rookie of the Year threat.
New York Yankees: 1B Paul Goldschmidt
Conventional wisdom suggested last year was the beginning of the end for Goldschmidt. He posted what was by a substantial margin the worst OPS (.716) of his career, this while turning 37 in September. But the Yankees took a $15M flyer on one of the oldest position players in the league this season and have been rewarded with a bounce-back year. His slugging isn't what it used to be, but he was batting .347 through 55 games.
Tampa Bay Rays: 1B Jonathan Aranda
Aranda raked at Triple-A Durham in both 2022 and 2023, hitting 43 home runs in 199 games played. But in 110 games played in the majors from 2022-24, he had just 10 round-trippers and was just about the definition of a replacement-level hitter. Out of what seems like nowhere if you ignore what he did in Durham, he has an OPS right around .900 and has been cemented as Tampa Bay's primary cleanup hitter.
Toronto Blue Jays: 3B/RF Addison Barger
Barger played in 69 games last season as a rookie, a regular in the lineup over the final two months after all of Toronto's impending free agents were sold off for prospects. But he didn't show much worth getting excited about, batting .197 with a .601 OPS—this after posting a modest .745 OPS in the minors in 2023. As of Monday morning, however, Barger's .489 slugging percentage ranked No. 1 among the 10 Blue Jays with at least 100 at-bats.
American League Central
2 of 6
Chicago White Sox: 3B/1B Miguel Vargas
After going from the Dodgers to the White Sox in that three-team Tommy Edman/Erick Fedde/Michael Kopech swap last summer, Vargas hit an atrocious .104 in 42 games played. This year, however, he is leading the White Sox with 10 home runs and 34 RBI, his .761 OPS roughly double what he gave them last year. (Whether they view the 25-year-old as a trade chip or a foundational piece remains to be seen, though.)
Cleveland Guardians: LHP Kolby Allard
Allard was a first-round pick in the 2015 draft, but never much looked the part before this season. From 2018-24, he logged 272 innings pitched with a 5.99 ERA, bouncing from starter to reliever, as well as from Brave to Ranger to Phillie. But he's faring pretty well thus far in a mop-up role in Cleveland, posting a 1.95 ERA in 27.2 innings of work.
Detroit Tigers: C Dillon Dingler
Between 2023 and 2024, Dingler hit 33 home runs in 160 minor league games played. But in his 27-game cup of coffee in the majors last season, he managed just one home run, batting .167 with a .505 OPS. With Jake Rogers getting hurt barely a week into the season, though, it was Dingler to the rescue with a year-to-date .730 OPS that makes last year's rough debut a distant memory.
Kansas City Royals: 3B Maikel Garcia
Among Royals, only Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez tallied more plate appearances last season than Garcia. However, that's certainly not because he was raking, ending up with a .614 OPS. It was much more a product of his speed on the basepaths and his ability to play many positions. This year, though, he and his .860 OPS has routinely been in the heart of the order, playing second fiddle to Witt.
Minnesota Twins: RHP Louis Varland
In each of the previous three years, Varland pitched his way in and out of both the rotation and the majors, logging 143.2 innings with a 5.51 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He was good enough to keep getting chances, but never carved out a proper job. Now serving predominantly in a one-inning role, however, he's thriving. Varland has a 2.14 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 12 holds.
American League West
3 of 6
Athletics: SS Jacob Wilson
Wilson only made 103 plate appearances late last season, few enough to maintain his rookie status for this year. In those 103 plate appearances, though, he had no home runs, no stolen bases and a .629 OPS, hardly providing a glimpse into his immense potential. Through roughly three times as many trips to the plate this season, Wilson has nine home runs, five stolen bases and an .883 OPS. With a .349 batting average, he is breathing down Aaron Judge's neck (.367) for the AL batting title.
Houston Astros: SS Jeremy Peña and CF Jake Meyers
It's supposed to be just one player for each team, but it's impossible to choose here. Over the previous three years, Peña ranked second among Astros in plate appearances with Meyers in eighth place on that list. However, both were regulars much more so for their defense than their bats, the former posting a .707 OPS while the latter had a .647 mark. Much different story this year with Peña sitting at .874 while Meyers is at .776. This duo has more than kept the Astros afloat while they wait for Yordan Alvarez to get healthy and for Christian Walker to start producing.
Los Angeles Angels: OF Jo Adell
The 2017 first-round pick broke through a bit last season for 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases—compared to 18 and seven, respectively, through his first four years in the bigs—but he still had a sub-100 OPS+ and missed most of the final month with an oblique strain. Adell has been on fire as of late, though, clubbing 10 home runs with a 1.071 OPS dating back to May 30. He's on pace to nearly double his HR count from last year.
Seattle Mariners: C Cal Raleigh
Raleigh was already good enough that Seattle signed him to a six-year, $105M extension a couple days before the season began. But after a three-year stretch averaging 30 home runs and a .760 OPS, Raleigh has a 1.042 OPS and is on pace to break Aaron Judge's AL home run record (62), let alone Salvador Perez's record for home runs by a catcher (48). Raleigh has also already stolen more bases (nine) than he did in his first four seasons combined (seven).
Texas Rangers: RHP Tyler Mahle
Over the previous eight seasons, Mahle had a 4.32 ERA, his 2021 campaign with Cincinnati the only particularly productive or healthy one to date. But after missing darn near all of the past two seasons, he has made 14 starts with a 2.34 ERA, co-anchoring with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi what has been the best rotation in baseball.
National League East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves: RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
Options for most improved on this wildly underachieving roster are few and far between, but how about Ronald Acuña Jr. presently boasting a 1.202 OPS, compared to his .716 fiasco in 49 games played in 2024? Because he didn't make his season debut until Atlanta's 50th game, it's pretty unlikely he'll make enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title, but he would be running away with the NL crown right now with a .396 mark.
Miami Marlins: OF Kyle Stowers
Though he has cooled off from what was a .958 OPS through 47 games played, Stowers' year-to-date numbers are still drastically better than what he had accomplished previously in his career. He had a negative bWAR in each of his first three seasons, as well as a cumulative .600 OPS in 117 games played. Quite the 180 to emerge as maybe Miami's best All-Star Game candidate.
New York Mets: RHP Griffin Canning
Tough to say if he'll still have a job if and when New York's rotation finally gets healthy, but what a pleasant surprise Canning was through the first 40 percent of this season. The Angels traded Canning for Jorge Soler, after which Atlanta non-tendered him. But two teams' trash has been another team's treasure, with Canning posting a 2.90 ERA through his first 12 starts with New York.
Philadelphia Phillies: 3B Alec Bohm
For the other 29 teams, the improvement is compared to last season / previous years. For Bohm, however, it has been quite the recovery from a rough start. After an offseason full of trade speculation, Bohm had a ghastly .331 OPS through 15 games and was homerless until Philadelphia's 35th game. He now has seven dingers, though, and is batting .332 dating back to April 19.
Washington Nationals: OF James Wood
Upon finally getting called up to the big leagues at the beginning of last July, James Wood had a productive half season as a rookie, batting .264. But compared to nine home runs and a .427 slugging percentage in 336 plate appearances, his 21 home runs and .560 slugging percentage through 339 plate appearances this season is a huge step in the right direction. Through June 19, only Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Shohei Ohtani and Corbin Carroll had a better SLG than Wood.
National League Central
5 of 6
Chicago Cubs: CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
PCA hit just 10 home runs last season in 123 games played, almost always buried in the bottom third of Chicago's lineup. Suffice it to say, his becoming the first player to 20 HR and 20 SB this season was not on many bingo cards, but Crow-Armstrong has been arguably the top candidate for NL MVP to this point in the season, his OPS skyrocketing from .670 to .866 while continuing to provide extraordinary glovework in center.
Cincinnati Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott
Abbott had a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the previous two seasons, his combined 18 wins good for most among Cincinnati pitchers. But the southpaw has blossomed from "adequate" to "ace" with a 1.79 ERA through 13 starts this season. Abbott allowed just two earned runs in 32.2 innings pitched in May, and then tossed a complete-game shutout against Cleveland in his second start of June.
Milwaukee Brewers: RHP Quinn Priester
When Nestor Cortes hit the IL in early April, Milwaukee sent Boston a pair of prospects and a draft pick to acquire Priester, who was Pittsburgh's 2019 first-round pick. Little did the Red Sox know the 24-year-old was primed for a breakout season. Priester has a 3.68 ERA for the year with a 2.64 mark dating back to May 3, going at least five innings and allowing three or fewer runs in eight consecutive appearances.
Pittsburgh Pirates: RHP Dennis Santana
Prior to a solid second half of last season in Pittsburgh, Santana had a negative WAR in each of the previous four stops of his career. He had a career ERA of 5.34 when the Yankees cut him a little over a year ago. But maybe he just needed more pierogies in his diet, because he has a 1.62 ERA with the Pirates this season, already boasting nine holds, five saves and two wins.
St. Louis Cardinals: CF Victor Scott II
Heading into the year, it was anybody's guess whether Scott or Michael Siani would become St. Louis' primary center fielder. Scott won the battle with a 1.172 OPS to Siani's .320 mark in spring training and has maintained a tight grip on the job. His OPS (.657) is a far cry from what he did in March. However, it's better than what he managed in 53 games played last season (.502), and he has accounted for nearly 50 percent of the Cardinals stolen bases (21 of 43) while also playing quality defense.
National League West
6 of 6
Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller
During his previous stint with the Diamondbacks (2016-18), Miller was still a starting pitcher, making 29 appearances with a 6.35 ERA. His subsequent six years bouncing from one team to the next weren't much better, save for a good run in 2023 with the Dodgers. Overall, he had a 5.81 ERA from 2016-24. But after opening this season with 13.2 consecutive scoreless innings, he has a 2.03 ERA and has become Arizona's primary closer.
Colorado Rockies: C Hunter Goodman
Goodman's slugging prowess was already undeniable. Not only did he hit 70 home runs across 241 minor league games in 2022-23, but he had 13 home runs in 224 plate appearances last season. Now, however, he's hitting for average, too, improving from a .192 mark in his first two seasons in the majors to a .284 mark while playing almost every day this year. In turn, his OPS has increased by 200 points to .842.
Los Angeles Dodgers: CF Andy Pages
Between the 14 games played in spring training and his first 16 games of the regular season, Pages opened the year 14-for-87 (.161 AVG). Couple that with the fact that the Dodgers didn't deploy him once during the 2024 World Series after a regular season with a .712 OPS and it sure looked like they might be trading for a CF this summer. Since April 15, however, Pages has triple-slashed .326/.348/.565 with 14 home runs and six stolen bases and should probably be an All-Star this summer.
San Diego Padres: DH/LF/1B Gavin Sheets
Over the previous four seasons, the White Sox gave Gavin Sheets every chance to prove he deserved to be in the majors. Among the 303 players who made at least 1,000 plate appearances, though, his negative-1.7 fWAR was fifth-worst, while bWAR put him at negative-2.8 for his .680 OPS and dreadful defense. They non-tendered him and he sat available for 10 weeks before the Padres decided to give him a shot. He has become arguably their fourth-most valuable position player with 12 home runs and 45 RBI.
San Francisco Giants: RHP Randy Rodríguez
Rodríguez had a 4.46 ERA in 66.2 IP in the minors in 2022, a 4.37 ERA in 70 IP in the minors in 2023 and a 4.30 ERA in 52.1 IP in the majors last season. Kind of seemed like he had established himself as a reliever who would allow one earned run for every two innings pitched. Instead, he has allowed three in 34 innings this season, with an 8.2 K/BB ratio to boot. Ditching the sinker and changeup that he used on occasion last season has allowed him to focus on perfecting what is now a two-pitch arsenal—a 98 MPH four-seamer and a wipeout slider.
