Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs have already played two games in the Tokyo Series, but for 28 other teams, Opening Day for the 2025 MLB season is Thursday.
After an offseason that saw the Dodgers and New York Mets spend at historic levels and plenty of other teams make moves to shore up loose ends, there’s a great deal of suspense for this coming season.
And with that, here’s the X factor for every MLB team in the 2025 season.
New York Yankees: OF Jasson Dominguez
The Yankees are without 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole for the 2025 season (Tommy John surgery) and are also without Luis Gil (lat strain) to begin the season. That said, if the Yankees are going to repeat as AL East champions, they need their offense to be more well-balanced with Juan Soto (.288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs) one-and-done. Said task starts with Dominguez, who has been the team’s consensus top prospect dating back multiple years, as “The Martian” has overwhelming power from both sides of the plate. Now playing every day at the MLB level, New York needs Dominguez to be a primary catalyst for its order from the jump.
Baltimore Orioles: IF Jackson Holliday
Baltimore has one of the best offensive cores in the sport, but Anthony Santander and his 44 home runs left the building this offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays, while 2024 ace Corbin Burnes also departed in free agency. While questions remain about their starting rotation, the Orioles need their offensive core to remain the team’s identity: Holliday establishing himself would go a long way towards them accomplishing that aim. The No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft struggled in his first crack at the big leagues last season, hitting just .189 in 190 at-bats. Holliday getting his feet beneath him in the batter’s box and subsequently becoming the next piece to the puzzle in 2025 would make a touted Orioles offense otherworldly, however.
Boston Red Sox: SP Walker Buehler
The Red Sox were active all offseason, which included giving Buehler a one-year, $21.1 million deal. It’s all about Buehler being healthy, as he missed roughly two calendar years from mid-2022 to mid-2024 recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. After struggling in the regular season, the right-hander pitched to a 3.60 ERA in four postseason appearances including three starts en route to the Dodgers winning the 2024 World Series. At full force, Buehler strikes out batters at a high rate, provides length and is an All-Star-caliber starter. A need for better starting pitching has been the theme for the Red Sox in recent memory. A fully effective Buehler, along with the acquisition of Garrett Crochet, could get Boston back in the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Tampa Bay Rays: SP Shane McClanahan
Why would the ace of a team be their X factor? McClanahan missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery and will begin the 2025 season on the injured list. Prior to the 2023 elbow injury, the southpaw was among the elite pitchers in the sport. His fastball registered in the high 90s, he surrendered baserunners at a low clip and boasted a career 3.02 ERA over 74 starts. Tampa Bay had a rampant selling spree at the 2024 trade deadline but has made a habit of turning the page on a veteran core and getting back in contention in short order (like in the 2017-18 offseason). If McClanahan gets back on top of his game, it provides the Rays with an anchor for their pitching staff. Concurrently, if fully operational, the left-hander could get the Rays a king’s ransom in a trade.
Toronto Blue Jays: SP Chris Bassitt
The Blue Jays are a talented team coming off a bad season that saw them finish last in the AL East. Toronto is better than the product it put on the field in 2024, though. That said, the Jays will need multiple proven commodities to get back on track, one of them being Bassitt. Last season, the right-hander posted his worst ERA (4.16) and WHIP (1.46) since 2016. Bassitt induces weak contact, primarily throwing his sinker but deploying a great deal of offerings on the whole, but too much of that weak contact still went for a hit in 2024. The AL East is arguably the best division in the league, so the Blue Jays need Bassitt to get back to the pitcher who boasted a combined 3.39 ERA from 2019-23 and had a winning record in each season.
Cleveland Guardians: OF Jhonkensy Noel
Noel was a positive development for Cleveland last season, most notably hitting a game-tying home run in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series. The 23-year-old blasted 13 home runs and posted a .486 slugging percentage in just 67 games last season. Noel continuing to produce at that rate in 2025 could help offset the outgoing production of first baseman Josh Naylor, who averaged 102.5 RBIs per season from 2023-24.
Kansas City Royals: SP Alec Marsh
Kansas City made the decision to trade homegrown starter Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds for infielder Jonathan India. Now, the Royals need somebody to fill Singer’s shoes in the rotation. Enter Marsh, who was a full-time member of Kansas City’s rotation for the better part of 2024, posting a 4.53 ERA over 26 appearances/25 starts. Marsh has primarily thrown his four-seamer but also deployed a slider, curveball and sinker with frequency. The Royals are an ascending team, but filling the void that Singer’s exit creates is paramount. Marsh is working his way back from a shoulder injury but is somebody who could take the next step.
Detroit Tigers: IF Spencer Torkelson
The Tigers have an electric rotation, but this team is held back by a lack of offense, finishing 19th in runs and 23rd in hits last season. Gleyber Torres was a savvy pickup, but Torkelson tapping into his potential looms larger for Detroit. Torkelson was the No. 1 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft for a reason: the dude can mash. It was just 2023 when he blasted 31 home runs. However, last season, Torkelson posted a mere .669 OPS and strikeouts have been a continual issue. There are young position players to be bullish on, like Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene, but more is needed. Torkelson coming into his own as a consistent offensive catalyst is the boost Detroit’s offense needs.
Minnesota Twins: IF Royce Lewis
It has become a tiring point, but it’s still the truth: when healthy, Lewis is an overwhelming threat from the right side of the plate. While boasting a career .497 slugging percentage, Lewis has totaled a combined 33 home runs and 104 RBIs over 152 MLB games from 2022-24, with knee, hamstring and quad injuries, among other issues, limiting his availability. It was just one season ago that the Twins made the ALDS (Lewis hit four home runs that postseason) and, from their perspective, should’ve made the playoffs in 2024 before a late-season collapse, too. The gap between teams in the AL Central is minor. A healthy Lewis gives Minnesota a dynamite offensive attack and could be the difference.
Chicago White Sox: C Korey Lee
The White Sox lost a modern record 121 games last season and did little to improve their ballclub: chances are little is changing this season. That said, there’s always something to monitor, and Lee is someone to keep tabs on for Chicago. Serving as a primary catcher for the first time in his MLB career, Lee totaled 12 home runs and 37 RBIs in 125 games last season. To some extent, Chicago’s offense is a unit of players who have been at the big-league level for quite some time. Lee is not one of those players, and he’s a former first-round draft pick. Maybe Lee can establish himself as Chicago’s backstop of the future and become a stabilizing presence for their pitching staff?
Houston Astros: OF Jake Meyers
After a season that saw them lose in the wild card round, the Astros need to get back on track, and that starts with replacing the production of Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, which Meyers is a prime candidate to do. Last season, Meyers totaled a career-high 61 RBIs, but strikeouts have been an issue for the 28-year-old outfielder. The Astros may very well win the AL West regardless, but if they’re going to be contenders, they need drastic growth from within. Houston has replaced core players time and time again (e.g. George Springer and Carlos Correa), and 2025 brings that need once more. Meyers is next in line. Him becoming a reliable, middle-of-the-order bat is pivotal.
Seattle Mariners: OF Randy Arozarena
It’s been the same old song and dance for the Mariners the past three years: the starting pitching is stellar, and the offense is severely lacking. In 2024, Seattle was 21st in runs. The Mariners need one of last summer’s midseason acquisitions, Arozarena, to help close the gap. While he hit just .219, Arozarena has a sweet, compact power swing from the right side and previously averaged 21 home runs and a .443 slugging percentage per season from 2021-23 with the Rays. The best offensive version of Arozarena would give the Mariners a needed boost.
Texas Rangers: SP Jack Leiter
Leiter made nine MLB appearances/six starts in 2024 in what his first licks at the big-league game. Granted, he posted an 8.83 ERA. That being said, Leiter will be in the Rangers’ rotation to begin 2025, and he has the potential makeup of an ace. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Leiter posted a 3.51 ERA in Triple A last season. His fastball hits the high 90s, and he can get hitters to bite at his slider. Just one year ago, Texas won the World Series with a good but not elite rotation. Leiter could be the new dimension to their staff.
Athletics: SP Jeffrey Springs
Can the Athletics get a healthy version and, with that, the best version of Springs? If the answer is “yes” to both questions, they have a fighting chance at being a wild card team. In 2022, Springs posted a 2.46 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 33 appearances/25 starts. Injuries got in the way in 2023, as he underwent Tommy John surgery, which kept the left-hander off the mound through July 2024. Springs then posted a 3.27 ERA in seven starts down the stretch. The A’s have a positional nucleus to be optimistic about, and Luis Severino gives them a proven pitcher to lean on. With Springs on top of his game, they’d have an All-Star-caliber arm and another complement for JP Sears and Joey Estes.
Los Angeles Angels: SP Jack Kochanowicz
It’s an ongoing challenge to find the light at the end of the tunnel for the Angels, but establishing a reliable starting rotation would help. Kochanowicz could play a role toward such a goal. In his first 11 MLB starts last season, the former third-round draft pick posted a 3.99 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 65.1 innings. Kochanowicz pitched deep into games, induced outs with his sinker and showcased the ability to take the hill every fifth day. While Kochanowicz relied a little too much on weak contact (he posted just 25 strikeouts) and could use a second pitch to lean on, the 24-year-old developing into a stabilizing force would give the Angels a long-term piece of the puzzle.
Philadelphia Phillies: IF Bryson Stott
Philadelphia has one of the most talented rosters in the sport, specifically on its lineup card, but this is a unit that was held to 12 runs by the New York Mets in the 2024 NL Division Series. Their order could use a youthful boost, and Stott is the next man up. Stott has already established himself as a sturdy second baseman who can play both middle-infield positions, swipe bags at a high rate (31.5 stolen bases per season from 2023-24) and hold his own from the left side of the plate. That said, Stott hasn’t consistently been a force at the plate. Him getting on base more frequently and slugging more would serve as an essential upgrade for the Phillies.
Atlanta Braves: SP Spencer Schwellenbach
Both left-hander Chris Sale (2024 NL Cy Young Award winner) and right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (1.99 ERA over 26 appearances/25 starts) are coming off tremendous seasons. At the same time, Max Fried is gone, and the Braves shouldn’t be banking on both Sale and Lopez replicating their 2024 success. That brings in the emerging Schwellenbach, who posted a 3.35 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in his first 21 MLB starts last season. Schwellenbach — who displayed a consistent five-pitch arsenal — becoming the Braves’ next homegrown stud would help offset the potential for Sale to decline and/or Lopez to take a step back. The former second-rounder could fill the reliability voided by Fried’s departure and subsequently keep the Braves in the NL East hunt.
New York Mets: SP Kodai Senga
With Soto in the fold and Pete Alonso retained, the Mets figure to have one of the best offenses in the sport, but their rotation is filled with what-ifs, the biggest being Senga. The 32-year-old right-hander was limited to one regular-season start in 2024 due to shoulder and calf injuries. On the other hand, Senga posted a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 29 starts in 2023, earning an All-Star nod. When healthy, Senga, who finds success with his cutter and forkball, has pitched like an ace, which was the weakness of New York’s roster coming out of its 2024 postseason run. He’s not the only pitcher who they need high-level performance from, but Senga getting back to his 2023 self would likely cement the Mets’ place back in the postseason.
Washington Nationals: SP Jake Irvin
The Nationals have an emerging positional core, but for the sake of 2025, questions abound in their rotation outside of MacKenzie Gore. Enter Irvin. The 28-year-old right-hander has provided length and held his own in Washington’s rotation over the past two seasons, and he showed flashes of brilliance in 2024, specifically owning a 2.80 ERA through his first 18 starts. It’s about Irvin, who has relied on his four-seamer and curveball, putting together a complete season. If he does as such, Washington’s rotation — which is on the younger side — could round into form.
Miami Marlins: SP Valente Bellozo
After a trade deadline that saw them be rambunctious sellers, the Marlins are searching for an identity. They might as well try to remake their previous one, which was an electric rotation. Last season, Bellozo posted a 3.67 ERA and displayed a consistent, five-pitch arsenal (four-seamer, cutter, changeup, curveball and sweeper) in 13 starts. The 25-year-old has a chance to be a fixture in Miami’s rotation and could become a player the franchise can pinpoint as “not available” at next season’s deadline should he build on his 2024 success.
Milwaukee Brewers: SP Nestor Cortes
Milwaukee lost its best hitter to free agency (Willy Adames) and traded All-Star closer Devin Williams for, most notably, Cortes, who’s a prime bounce-back candidate. For better or worse, the Brewers’ identity is always going to be who takes the hill. Injuries limited Cortes in 2023, but he registered a 3.77 ERA in 31 appearances/30 starts for the Yankees last season. Despite the offseason losses, Milwaukee still has to be dethroned by another team in the NL Central, and it has the track record to hold its own. Cortes, a 2022 All-Star, pitching at a high level would form a compelling rotation trio with Freddy Peralta and, when healthy, Tobias Myers.
St. Louis Cardinals: SP Andre Pallante
St. Louis isn’t in a desirable situation, having not blown up its roster or made moves to ascend to contention, so it’s still a franchise aspiring to at least be in the wild card mix. For that goal to be achievable, the Cardinals need better performance from their starting rotation, which is where Pallante’s upside comes into play. Last season, the right-hander made 29 appearances/20 starts and posted a 3.78 ERA. Maybe Erick Fedde builds on a plausible 2024 campaign, but Pallante is one of the few members of St. Louis’ rotation who hasn’t reached their potential. Him pitching deeper into games and finding more success with his off-speed pitches is essential.
Chicago Cubs: OF Pete Crow-Armstrong
Chicago’s offense has a ton of talent, furthered by the acquisition of Kyle Tucker. But it needs more oomph, and that’s precisely what Crow-Armstrong, a former first-round pick, can provide. The 22-year-old showed some promise in the 123 games that he appeared in for the Cubs last season, flaunting some pop (10 home runs), wheels (27 stolen bases) and a reliable glove in center field (11 DRS and eight assists). The young outfielder is one of a few players on this depth chart that hasn’t peaked, if you will. Coupled with Chicago’s high-level rotation, Crow-Armstrong blossoming into a force to be reckoned with from the left side could push Chicago to the top of the NL Central.
Cincinnati Reds: OF TJ Friedl
Friedl, who’s still 29, hit 18 home runs and posted an .819 OPS in 2023, which he followed up by hitting just .226 in 2024. Cincinnati should have a reliable rotation in 2025, with Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott blossoming and Brady Singer in the mix. Now, the Reds need their younger bats to grow into their potential, namely Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. That said, Friedl has flaunted a power bat, and him being a consistent offensive force would give the Reds the veteran complement they lost by trading Jonathan India for Singer. Friedl can do damage. The Reds need him to do that more consistently.
Pittsburgh Pirates: IF Nick Gonzales
Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller form a high-upside rotation trio for the Pirates. The key? Players not named Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz have to emerge as offensive forces. Gonzales, whom the franchise took with the No. 7 pick in the 2020 draft, has been a respectable right-handed hitter who can put the ball in play, is difficult to strike out and holds his own at second base. That said, more is needed, and he has the talent to be more of an offensive linchpin. Gonzales getting on base with more frequency and therefore working his way to the top of the order and setting the table for Reynolds and Cruz, among others, would deepen Pittsburgh’s offense.
Los Angeles Dodgers: SP Roki Sasaki
The Dodgers have a historically great roster, headlined by historically great rotation depth. Injuries are the potential kryptonite of this staff, but in searching for a weakness from a talent standpoint, Sasaki is the only pitcher who hasn’t yet pitched in MLB for an extended period of time. To date, Sasaki has flashed a split-fingered fastball and four-seamer that can reach triple digits; he looks like a soon-to-be star. But him actually becoming that in the short term is what would make the Dodgers’ rotation historically special. Otherwise, it could be a race for them to get healthy for the postseason.
San Diego Padres: SP Randy Vasquez
While they lost Jurickson Profar and Tanner Scott, the Padres still have the makeup of a team that can do damage in the postseason and a rotation that’s getting younger and transitioning well, which Vasquez could continue. Acquired from the Yankees along with ace Michael King, among others, for Juan Soto in 2023, Vasquez got his first run as an MLB starter in 2024, making 20 starts. The 26-year-old showcased an absurd, six-pitch arsenal (four-seamer, curveball, sinker, cutter, changeup and sweeper) and may very well be a full-time member of the Padres’ rotation with Yu Darvish down. If Vasquez can take the next step, it makes San Diego’s rotation that much deeper in the long haul.
Arizona Diamondbacks: SP Brandon Pfaadt
Corbin Burnes gives Arizona its new ace to go along with an ace in his own right in Zac Gallen. The D-backs have a roster of starting pitchers who are prime bounce-back candidates (e.g. Eduardo Rodriguez). A wild card in this mix is Pfaadt. It was just one year ago when the right-hander was enormous for Arizona en route to its run to the 2023 World Series, posting a 3.27 ERA in five postseason starts. The 26-year-old has been a consistent member of Arizona’s rotation and found success relying on his four-seamer and sweeper. If Pfaadt can take the next step and become a power arm who continues to log strikeouts at a plausible rate, the D-backs will have one of the elite rotations in the sport.
San Francisco Giants: SP Hayden Birdsong
Adames gives the Giants an impact bat and Justin Verlander is a veteran rotation complement, but this is a team that plays in arguably the best five-team cluster in the National League, the NL West. They need one of their three collective units (lineup, rotation and bullpen) to be elite to have a chance at a wild card, and the rotation serves as their best hope. Logan Webb is an ace, and Jordan Hicks held his own in his first season as a starting pitcher, but Birdsong can be the difference. The 23-year-old is entering his second season as a full-time MLB starter after posting a 4.75 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 16 regular-season starts, while consistently throwing three off-speed pitches (curveball, slider and changeup). If Birdsong can build on his 2024 success and come into his own, it gives San Francisco a dynamic rotation.
Colorado Rockies: OF Sam Hilliard
Hilliard’s MLB career has featured being up and down from a big-league roster, an inconsistent role and, when he is in the show, power. Lots and lots of power. Across six MLB seasons (2019-24), Hilliard has averaged 22 home runs per season — if one extrapolates his production over a 162-game-per-season average — and owns a career .438 slugging percentage. Last season, the veteran outfielder hit 10 home runs and posted a .507 slugging percentage in just 138 at-bats. In what’s his second stint with the Rockies, Hilliard, if given a consistent, everyday role, could do damage over a full season and provide a power plug for Colorado’s offense. He could also help fill some of the production voided by Charlie Blackmon‘s retirement in their outfield rotation.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
